

















































































































^ $ 





Inscribed to the memory of the devoted 
men and women who in every age and in 
every land have lived and died for the cause 
of freedom and the equal rights of all men. 

The Author. 


Copyright, 1S85, by T. S. Denison. 
All Rights Reserved. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE. 

The Street of a Thousand Palaces 7 

CHAPTER II. 

The Twins Have “ a Invite Inter High Society ” 14 

CHAPTER III. 

The Moral Aspects of a Dollar 25 

CHAPTER IV. 

Sowing the Wind 32 

CHAPTER V. 

Mr. Roker’s Little Scheme 40 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Honorable Dave Sawder 50 

CHAPTER VII. 

Very High Society 63 

CHAPTER VIII. 

“Will You Walk into My Parlor, Said the Spider to the Fly?” 76 

CHAPTER IX. 

Mr. Pipe Malley Seeks a Situation for His Twin Brother, Quill, and 
the Misses Ingledee and Snicker Make a Call in an Unfashion- 
able Street 84 

CHAPTER X. 

Mr. Ingledee Attempts to Read His Family a Lesson on Social 

Duties 101 

CHAPTER XI. 

Out West — Rural Amusements 109 

CHAPTER XII. 

Spellin’ School 115 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

PAGE. 

The Hacketts i 2 7 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Miss Harrie Snicker Organizes a Picnic which is by no Means 

“Common” 137 

CHAPTER XV. 

Reaping the Whirlwind 149 

CHAPTER XVI. 

“ Vengeance is Mine.” 157 

CHAPTER XVII. 

A City in the Clouds 164 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Roughing It 173 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Striking it Rich 183 

CHAPTER XX. 

Jumpers 191 

CHAPTER XXI. 

A Night Horror in the Shaft 204 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Death on the Cliff — The Bismarck Taken by Strategy 219 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Trial in the Elk Mountain Saloon, wherein the Forcible 
Nature of Western Arguments is Illustrated — Little Hackett’s 
Speech 228 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Death of Little Hackett 238 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The Big Strike on the Amazon 250 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

In which Many Old Acquaintances are Renewed 263 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

A Surprise for the Hacketts, with Things Both Pleasant and Un- 
pleasant for Mr. Quill Malley . 273 


CONTENTS. 


y 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

PAGE. 

A Disagreeable Revelation — The Feasibility of a Villa on the 

Hudson 282 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Two Young Ladies Become Acquainted, Whose History is Here- 
after Connected in Very Important Events — Quill Mallev 
Transacts Further Business with Mr. Roker, and the Latter 
Becomes Confidential with Mr. Ingledee 291 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Brownell Family Recognize the United States 299 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Making a United States Senator — Miss Ingledee Accidentally 
Obtains very Important Information, and Mr. Quill Malley 
Executes a Urrint 310 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Misunderstandings — Gridiron Soars 322 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Ruin, Utter Ruin, and Disgrace 332 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A Friend in Need 342 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

All Things are Easy Because All are Untried. Some Examples 
of Yankee Thrift 355 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Mind-Farming and Husband-Painting 365 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Life on the Prairies — Raising Garden “ Sass ” — A Spell of 

Weather and a Bottomless Cornfield 373 

' * 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

The Poetry of Sheep-shearing, Also a Little Backache 383 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

A Cyclone — How Railroads Divide with the Farmer 392 

CHAPTER XL. 

In which Tom Norwell Concludes that Farming is not Highly 
Remunerative and Messrs. Lemming and Miriam Concoct 
their Greatest Money-Making Scheme 403 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XLI. 

PAGE. 

Which Contains both Good and Bad Report of Familiar Friends — 
Luck vs. Love — There is Nothing New in Luck, Nothing New 
in Love. 413 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Arthur Wilson, Esq., Millionaire versus Arthur Wilson, Poor Young 

Man — The Snickers Exhibit the Family Joss 424 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

Some Great Financiers — How to Retire from Business 436 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

In which Miss Ingledee Startles Her Rival, Provokes the Wrath 
of Her Father, Dares a Lover, and Becomes an Exile from 
Home 440 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Mr. Roker Startles Certain Folks Greatly by His Theory of an 
Elopement — He Pays a Visit to May Bryce — Death of Silas 
Ingledee 452 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

An Unending Conflict 462 

CHAPTER XLVII. 

The Pittsburgh Riots, Fire and Destruction — A Race for Life 470 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

Mr. Malley Comes out in Style — Atalanta Victorious 479 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

The Danger Signal 491 

CHAPTER L. 

Mr. Roker Springs a Mine 501 

CHAPTER LI. 

Face to Face — Love’s Appeal to Love — Mr. Quill Malley Exhibits 

Alarming Symptoms. 509 

CHAPTER LII. 

True unto Death 518 

CHAPTER LIII. 

The Shadow that Walked Before ^31 

CHAPTER LIV. 

A Fading Flower 537 


AN IRON CROWN. 


CHAPTER I. 

m 

THE STREET OF A THOUSAND PALACES. 

Fifth Avenue, in the city of New York, though a street of 
world-wide celebrity, is not wholly pleasing to the eye of a 
visitor. One soon tires of the sameness exhibited in block 
after block of imposing brown stone edifices, many of which 
well deserve the name of palace in the splendor of their 
costly appointments. Most of the houses in the street are so 
much alike with their stately stone fronts three and four 
stories high, plate-glass windows, and massive stone steps 
leading from a stone sidewalk which ends a stone-like pave- 
ment, that the description of one would serve for two-thirds of 
the houses in the Avenue. 

On a hot day in summer when this abode of magnificence 
is well-nigh deserted by ‘its fashionable inhabitants, it is a 
dreary enough place. The country visitor who has come from 
far to view the wonders of the great metropolis concerning 
which he has read and marveled from his earliest recollection, 
is liable at such a time to think this a very stony sort of gran- 
deur. The air is parched and oppressive. Above is a trop- 
ical sun, on either side inhospitable splendor. The closed 
doors and drawn blinds of these silent abodes of wealth have 
for the eye of the stranger no more welcome than is found at 
the door of a deserted cabin in the wilderness. He longs to 
escape from this sweltering, artificial Sahara. For him Fifth 
Avenue is a gross delusion and a cheat so far as concerns those 
pure delights which he imagined were everywhere apparent 
in that favored locality. 

By contrast his thoughts seek a comfortable homestead 
in his own village, where the whitewash on the palings 
is renewed perennially and the vine clings luxuriant to the 
trellis, while roses burden the air with a perfume sweeter to 
his mind than anv fhr-fetched perfumes of Araby. Or his 

( 7 ) 


8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


thoughts wander further to the long two-story farmhouse 
with an L and a wide porch running full length. On the 
porch are homely rocking chairs. In front stately oak, maple, 
elm or locust trees throw a dense, grateful shade as far as the 
porch. Beyond is the highway over which a farmer’s wagon 
rattles; at the rear is the orchard where red-cheeked and 
golden apples shimmer in the hot sun of noonday and the pre- 
datory woodpecker feasts at will. Our visitor, if thoughtful, 
will realize that not in Fifth Avenue but in these distant places 
are the homes of the real American people. If he has just 
come from the Metropolitan Museum, he cannot but realize a 
striking similarity between the condition of the lifeless, stony 
figures in that repository of the relics of a past age and the 
petrified condition of the Avenue itself, with all its parched 
belongings. Whether of a philosophical turn of mind or not, 
he will scarcely remain long in this enormous oven, which 
needs only a lid to prepare it for baking, at such a season, on 
such a day. 

But if the stranger leaves Fifth Avenue with the impres- 
sion that its inhabitants have really fossilized to be more in 
keeping with the street, he will make a great mistake. The 
society butterflies, young and old, are at Saratoga, Newport, 
the Thousand Islands, the White Mountains, or some other of 
the many summer resorts which America can boast. These 
butterflies, of every size and color of wing, industriously flit 
on the mountain and by the sea. They dance, and bathe, and 
flirt, and eat, day after day, all summer long. Their painted 
wings glimmer in the sunbeams like the wings of their dumb 
namesakes, and apparently with as little purpose. The elderly 
male butterfly occasionally takes his dyspepsia, and his gold- 
rimmed spectacles to the city, to watch the gathering of 
golden nuggets, which must be converted into dust to gild 
the giddy wings of his progeny. The movements of this 
elderly male butterfly are a trifle heavy and at times somewhat 
anxious. In fact, he is not a real butterfly, for his develop- 
ment is usually arrested at the homely chrysalis condition, 
which renders the full-fledged, gorgeous-winged wonder a 
possibility. He is homely but necessary. While this dancing, 
eating, dallying and assiduous flirting goes on by the mountain 
and the sea, the American people, in shop, factoiy and store, on 
the farm, in the forest, in the mine, are daily, over millions of 
square miles, building the greatest and freest nation the world 
has ever seen. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


9 


But to return to Fifth Avenue. These miles of stately 
structures in brown stone, which have a deep interest to man- 
kind, because of the fabulous sums necessary to build and 
maintain them, though much alike externally, differ in their 
interior appointments as much as their inmates differ in 
thought, feeling and action. This story has to do with only 
one of the grandest of them, the exact location of which for 
obvious reasons will not be made known. On that Septem- 
ber day some years ago, this palatial residence might have been 
described as follows: 

The striking and ornate exterior proclaimed that its 
owner possessed immense wealth. Nor did it indicate simply 
vulgar wealth. The chaste architecture of the beautiful 
front, plainly showed that the architect, at least, was a man of 
exquisite taste, whatever might be said of the owner. The 
massive carved front door opened into a large hall, which was 
in itself as capacious as the whole ground floor in many a 
house which shelters people of moderate means. This spacious 
entry was laid with small tiles in beautiful mosaic patterns. 
For some distance above the floor extended marble panels, in 
which were to be seen almost every known variety and color 
of that useful stone, all polished like a mirror. Even stones 
classed as precious, were here set into the walls in profusion, 
dazzling the eye with their brilliant reflections. Here lapis- 
lazuli blended its pleasing hues with malachite. On the walls 
were sculptured bas-reliefs, the works of master artists. 
Choice statuary reposed in niches, or was placed about the 
room. Costly bronzes, representing both ancient and modern 
art, were lodged on brackets, or otherwise placed with artistic 
effect. On the lofty ceilings in this hall and in the grand 
saloons, were beautiful frescoes. Richly ornamented gasaliers, 
whose chaste embellishments reflected the light in many hues, 
depended from the ceiling. 

To the right of this grand hall were spacious parlors of 
unusual dimensions, to the left a library, a picture gallery, the 
owner’s private office, and various smaller rooms. Further to 
the rear were the family dining-room, the public dining-room, 
and still beyond, the kitchens. The alcoves of books in fine 
bindings, the statuary which was in various places, the pic- 
tures in the gallery and in the parlors, the frescoes on the ceil- 
ings, all indicated refined and sumptuous tastes on the part of 
the owner. There was a conspicuous absence of those fan- 
tastic productions of household adornment whose only recom- 


io 


AN IRON CROWN. 


mendations are their deformity and uselessness. There were 
no fragile tables on unsteady legs or consumptive tripods sup- 
porting inadequate card baskets. The costly center-tables 
would have supported a roasted ox if necessary. The mas- 
sive rosewood coat rack in the hall was built for service as 
well as show. It stood solidly on the marble floor instead of 
on four griffin’s legs, as is sometimes the case, whose uncer- 
tain and erratic movements make the keeping closed of the 
front door a necessity, lest the whole machine should some 
fine day walk into the street and disappear around the corner. 
It made no difference to that coat rack whether you hung the 
coat there or the owner of the coat. This palatial abode was 
the residence of Henry Ingledee, the great railway king. 

Mr. Ingledee was a man about fifty, and in spite of his 
long participation in the feverish excitements of Wall street, 
he showed few gray hairs and fewer lines in his face. This 
was wholly due to his iron constitution, for he never spared 
himself any labor, no matter how arduous, provided it brought 
or seemed likely to bring gold and extend his influence. He 
was above medium height, strongly built, with well-molded 
limbs, shapely, sinewy hands and small feet. His hair and 
complexion were dark, while his eyes were a puzzling con- 
tradiction between gray and a very dark blue. He had a 
rather square jaw, a firm mouth, broad high nose with wide 
nostrils, and heavy eyebrows. His full chest and short neck 
indicated great animal powers. A well-developed head gave 
assurance of mental as well as physical power. Mr. Ingledee 
was a man who would prove a formidable rival, indeed, a 
dangerous one, in any avocation he might adopt. 

He was brought up a poor farmer’s son, among the hills of 
Western Massachusetts. His humble origin, like that of so 
many men eminent in American history, had no effect in cur- 
tailing his visions of a different and vastly exalted sphere of 
action for the future. What that future might be, he knew’ 
not; and he was fully as ignorant of the path that might lead 
to it. While engaged in the daily labor of the farm he con- 
stantly dreamed of what he would do if he were rich and 
great. These dreams were so far beyond the petty details of 
his present life in their splendid proportions that he saved 
himself the humiliation of ridicule by wisely keeping them 
to himself. Only to his mother did he at times confide a 
vague purpose “ to be something in the world,” and she, poor 
woman, whose life was one continuous round of that tedious 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I I 

drudgery ordinarily incident to the life of a farmer’s wife, se- 
cretly abetted his ambition, though his father “ kalkilated noth- 
in ’ was so dead sartin’ as farmin’?” Mrs. Ingledee thought 
her son might greatly improve his condition in life by teaching 
school, but he in his heart despised that unpretentious means 
of mounting the ladder of fame. He who would have made 
a splendid soldier, thought little of the hum-drum occupation 
of school teaching. 

Yet, to please his mother, whose w r orth he understood, 
and whom he fully appreciated as his best friend on earth, he 
tried teaching school one term, at fifteen dollars per month 
and “board round;” that is, board free of charge by turns 
with every family in the district. But wealth accumulates 
slowly at fifteen dollars per month, though his balance sheet 
showed a gratifying exhibit at the end of the term. Out of 
the sixty dollars due for four months’ salary, fifty-nine dollars 
and forty cents remained to his credit. The other sixty cents 
had been expended in paint to make a blackboard in the 
schoolhouse, the first ever heard of in that neighborhood. 
At the age of twenty-one, Henry Ingledee left home “ to do 
for himself,” as that rather arduous and sometimes very un- 
certain undertaking was then called. At the age of thirty he 
was a merchant in an obscure country town in the far West. 
At the age of fifty he was- worth fifty millions, and a railway 
king of world-wide celebrity. It might have been better for 
him had he still been a country school teacher; it certainly 
would have been much better for the country. 

Besides the father, the Ingledee family consisted of a son 
and a daughter, the mother having been dead many years. 
Silas Ingledee, the son, may be described in brief. He in- 
herited many of his father’s strong traits of character. These, 
however, were perverted into wrong channels. The young 
man had never learned the value of money because he had 
never earned a dollar in his life. But what was infinitely 
worse, though common enough under the circumstances, he 
did not'know the value of a good name. He sailed around a 
great deal in the family yacht. He was a young man around 
town, and spent vast sums of money. His father earnestly 
protested against these wild dissipations, for he was very 
anxious to found a family which would go down into history, 
and this son was the only hope. 

Silas insisted that the industrial operation known as sowing 
wild oats, must be undergone by every young man of fortune. 


12 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Otherwise what was the use of having money at all? Some- 
time he would settle down, enter Wall street, and show the 
“ Governor ” a thing or two. Meanwhile the Governor, rather 
anxious to be surprised by the fulfillment of this promise, 
could only wait and hope that the young man might event- 
ually come to his senses, or in other words try every folly and 
get a surfeit. The only question was whether Silas’s consti- 
tution could sustain the herculean task of harvesting such a 
luxuriant crop of oats. As to the money, there were no fears 
for that while Mr. Ingledee was alive to take care of it. 
There was so much of it that the spending would have fully 
done up a half dozen young men of the period, which is say- 
ing a great deal for Mr. Ingledee’s financial standing. 

The daughter was a being of a very different stamp. 
There was nothing at all remarkable in the fact that she 
abstained from dissipation, for that a relentless public opinion 
rightfully denies to women, while tacitly admitting it to be on 
the whole rather a cute performance on the part of a young 
man. In this case what is a palatable sauce for the demure 
young goose is a very insipid condiment for the frisky male 
bird. The shame belongs to society for tolerating such false 
notions of right. Chetta Ingledee had grown up without a 
mother. Her father paid little attention to her, partly because 
Silas caused many paternal anxieties, but chiefly because she 
was a girl, and a girl could not perpetuate the name of Ingle- 
dee, which he fondly hoped would some day be known still 
better, and in connection with still greater achievements, pos- 
sibly in the arena of politics as well as finance, since the rail- 
way king is always deeply interested in politics. For these 
reasons Chetta had been allowed to grow up pretty much as 
she pleased. 

Her education in books had not been neglected, and her 
really superior intellect had readily assimilated and mastered 
all that is supposed to constitute a good education in the com- 
mon acceptation. She loved music, and had fine attainments 
in that direction. She despised a smattering of anything, 
hence, did not dabble in any of the fashionable dillettanteisms 
of the day. She was a high-spirited girl, who not only loved 
to have her own way, but had it. Mr. Ingledee looked on 
with indifference, for he thought her a very good girl, consid- 
ering that girls were an inferior production of nature, whose 
chief mission is to be married, suitably or unsuitably. He 
knew that her handsome face, fine form, and attractive man- 


AN IRON CROWN. 13 

4 

ners with the potent inducement of princely dowry, would 
secure her the best husband going at any time. 

In person Chetta Ingledee resembled her father. She was 
above the medium height, possessing a better physique than 
most young women, bred amid the fashionable absurdities 
which money commands. She had dark hair, liquid black 
eyes and a clear complexion, the result of vigorous health and 
abundant exercise. She was not afraid to walk a mile or two, 
in this respect being totally unlike those fashionable incapa- 
bles, who will order out the carriage to go two blocks, or stop 
a street car, if they chance to enter that plebeian conveyance, 
for one block. Chetta’s well-rounded, but prominent chin 
and full cherry lips, indicated a tendency toward voluptuous 
tastes. Her rather wide nose, the least bit turned up, indi- 
cated the same. 

Altogether, her face would be called handsome, it cer- 
tainly was striking, especially when her eye assumed a pecu- 
liar penetrating gaze, which plainly warned the world from 
attempting to trifle with its possessor. Wealth had not 
spoiled he«r as it spoils an inferior nature. She despised mere 
display, was unaffected in manner and kind of heart. As her 
time and actions were absolutely at her own disposal, this 
kindness and irrepressible flow of animal spirits caused her to 
do things, sometimes, which her aristocratic friends called 
“ queer.” Had her father been worth only a quarter of a 
million in lieu of his many millions, these freaks would have 
been pronounced “ singular.” Had he been a poor man strug- 
gling along on one hundred thousand, they would have been 
called “ unladylike,” and might have resulted in Chetta’s be- 
ing “ cut” by the female plutocrats who make and unmake 
society. One of these eccentricities was the teaching of a class 
of ragged boys in a mission school. These urchins consisted 
of newsboys, ragpickers and the children of the very poorest 
people — outcasts who, in the midst of the highest civilization, 
sink through misfortune and improvidence below the level of 
the savage. 


CHAPTER II. 


THE TWINS HAVE A “ INVITE INTER HIGH SOCIETY.” 

One morning after a late breakfast, Mr. Ingledee lingered 
at the table over his paper, hoping to see his son Silas before 
2foino' down town to the office. He was a hard worker still 

o o ^ 

and put in nearly as many hours per day at the office, as he 
did when he first began operations in Wall street. Hence 
the son, who breakfasted late, or oftener failed to take that 
meal at all through late rising, seldom sipped his coffee under 
the parental eye. Silas, who had not appeared for several 
days, at length entered the room, having received a polite re- 
quest to that effect, which he facetiously termed an “ appoint- 
ment.” He was dressed in a neat morning suit; his linen was 
in perfect condition but less must be said for the young 
gentleman himself. His eyes, and the lack of freshness in his 
complexion, together with a slight tremor of his hand as he 
opened a letter, plainly indicated wine and very late hours, if 
by any chronological reversion four or five in the morning 
can be called late. 

“ Good-morning, father.” 

u Good-morning, Silas,” said Mr. Ingledee, peering cau- 
tiously over the paper, for much as he detested his son’s course, 
he loved him too deeply to hurt his feelings, by even the ap- 
pearance of scanning his person. 

“ You are almost a stranger at the breakfast table lately.” 

“ Yes, society has been rather active for the opening of the 
season, and if one keeps in the swim, he must naturally con- 
sume a good deal of time, and some of that time must be 
squandered in sleep, and that is doubtless the reason of our 
having a forenoon.” He spoke of sleep as if it were a very 
inconvenient necessity, and added: “ You know nothing 

about all that of course.” 

M Thank heaven I do not! My son, haven’t you been in the 
swim about long enough?” 

“Oh no,” said Silas, making a careless attempt on a muf- 

(H) 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*5 


fin. “ You know Pm only twenty-two, and at my age a man 
is good for several years more of this sort of thing.” He 
spoke this in a sneering sort of way, as if it were a light thing 
for a man to measure out the priceless years of youth which he 
could devote to sin, estimating them only by his own capac- 
ity of bodily endurance. And these were the years so preg- 
nant with future happiness or misery. In youth every day 
gained is a treasure, every day lost an adder laid away in the 
bosom. The remark was so deliberate in tone, and showed 
such an utter lack of any appreciation of the value of true 
manhood, that, for the first time in his life, Mr. Ingledee’s heart 
sank over the prospects of his son. He had long hoped, 
remonstrated and waited in vain. The end of all his hopes 
was now plainly in view unless something could be done 
soon. 

While Mr. Ingledee was grieved to the heart, he was also 
very indignant. He had been brought up in the good old 
way, which taught that the night was made for sleep and the 
day for labor. The son believed, or acted as if he believed, 
that the night was for pleasure, the hardest of all labor, and 
the day, or part of it, for taking such unrefreshing slumber as 
could be obtained under these unnatural conditions. It nettled 
Mr. Ingledee to think that a son of his should so far violate 
a canon of that common sense which he flattered himself was 
a family characteristic. It was high time to teach this young 
man a lesson. He had begun twenty years too late. 

“ Silas, from time to time I have expressed disapproval of 
your course. I am not pleased with your conduct.” 

M I am sorry, father.” This remark was a part of the 
conventional requirements of etiquette. It meant nothing, 
and the father knew its emptiness as well as the son. 

“ It is high time you gave less attention to society and 
champagne suppers and turned to business. I shall fit up an 
apartment for you in our offices.” 

“ That will be quite unnecessary.” 

“ I insist upon it,” said Mr. Ingledee, showing the least 
trifle of heat at his son’s provoking coolness. 

“ Really, father, I hope you will not press this disagree- 
able subject. I have often announced my intention of going 
into the office in due time.” 

“ What do you consider due time?” 

44 After I’ve seen the world.” 

44 What will the world say of your conduct, sir? ” 


1 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


a Of my conduct?” replied Silas, with a show of surprise. 
“ I’ve done nothing extraordinary. If the world thinks about 
me at all, doubtless it will think my conduct the proper thing 
for a young man of fortune.” With exasperating method, he 
rang the bell and ordered the servant to take away his cup of 
coffee which had grown cold, and bring him a fresh one. Mr. 
Ingledee felt himself beaten. He, the man who had come off 
victorious in a thousand financial struggles, who had made 
and unmade scores of men, who had controlled the commerce 
of entire states with a high hand, who had made a name 
which had penetrated to every part of the civilized world, he, 
with his mighty millions, was vanquished by his own son, a 
boy of twenty-two. But he determined on one more effort: 

“ Is not the society of your own family worth cultivat- 
ing? ” 

“ The society of my family is, I believe, considered unex- 
ceptionable.” 

“ I scarcely ever see you of late; your sister scarcely ever 
sees you.” 

“Chetta has many friends and her own amusements; she 
does not seek my society. She is sensible, for why should 
brother and sister bore each other with commonplace affairs?” 
As Silas’s blunt view of family relations was the legitimate 
fruit of all Mr. Ingledee’s policy with regard to the useless- 
ness of a daughter when a family name was to be perpetuated, 
the father could not well complain. There was a short pause 
as if neither party to the conversation cared to venture the 
first remark. After the space of a minute, Silas quietly 
added : 

“ As to seeing me, father, you know you can always do 
that by appointment.” This was too much for Mr. Ingledee. 
His wrath was at white heat, though he repressed it, seeing 
the uselessness of further discussion then. 

“ I shall continue this subject when we have more leisure,” 
saying which he left the room and went directly to that of 
his daughter, which was an elegant apartment on the second 
lloor. He was satisfied that something had gone seriously 

wrong with the family machinery, and he determined to 
right it. 

As Mr. Ingledee knocked at Chetta’s door, a sudden shuf- 
fling noise greeted his ears. After a brief space of time the 
noises ceased within. He knocked again, when Chetta’s 
cheeiy, musical voice said, u Come in.” Entering, he saw a 


AN IRON CROWN. 


l 7 


table spread with substantial food, plentifully garnished with 
cake, fruits and nuts. At first glance it might have seemed 
that the young lady had been breakfasting in her own room, 
although that was improbable, for she always partook of the 
family breakfast at earlier hours with her father. He paid no 
attention to the table, thinking she had been entertaining 
some little girls as she sometimes did. Mr. Ingledee, in his 
ill-humor, felt like finding fault with his daughter for not ex- 
erting a more wholesome influence over her wayward brother 
instead of wasting time on strangers. He unreasonably ex- 
pected her to take a deep interest in that scapegrace and 
watch over him with a mother’s care (she was nearly two 
years his senior), while father and son had both systematically 
neglected the sister, except so far as the formal civilities of 
everyday life went. 

“ My daughter, 1 wish to speak with you.” 

“ Yes, papa.” 

u It concerns family matters. I am not satisfied with 
Silas.” 

u Why do you not speak to him ? ” 

“I have done so repeatedly. I have just now been trying 
to show him the wrong of wasting youth and its infinite pos- 
sibilities in folly. But he sees things in a different light and, 
I regret to say, is not inclined to listen to advice.” This last 
admission cost Mr. Ingledee an effort. It disparaged the 
male scion of the family who was everything, and the very 
fact of his confiding in his daughter gave some transient im- 
portance to the female scion, who was only a girl. 

“ What would you have me do, papa? ” 

“Try to have him more in your society. Woman’s in- 
fluence is a potent element in the formation of character.” 
Chetta laughed a little incredulous, half-contemptuous laugh 
which nettled her father, and added : 

u My brother has already seen a great deal of woman’s 
society.” 

Mr. Ingledee frowned and replied: “ True, but he has as- 
sociated only with those silly creaturec of fashionable society 
who have neither brains nor healthy instincts.” He might 
have named a worse class of women also, but he stopped 
short. “ I wish you to wield a sister’s influence, and, if possi- 
ble, elevate his social standard.” 

“ If he loved a sensible woman she might save him.” 

“ Chetta, that is nonsense. The only indication of com- 


i8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


moil sense that I have seen in the young man is the fact that 
he has refrained from hilling in love.” A closer scrutiny of 
Silas Ingledee’s career might have revealed the fact that he 
was too Intent on selfish pleasures to fall in love with any- 
thing but himself and his vices. 

u Please tell me what I must do, papa.” 

« Try to keep him at home a little. Interest him in your 
music. Take him into your set. Go with him oftener.” 

“ Papa, he never asked me to go anywhere in his life. He 
finds more congenial society than that of a sister.” 

This astounding revelation was more than Mr. Ingledee 
expected, though he knew there was little in common be- 
tween brother and sister. This aggressive, daring, unscrupu- 
lous man had for many years been piling his ample vaults full 
of stocks, bonds and mortgages. He had built up whole sys- 
tems of railways, and wrecked other systems with as little 
compunction as he would have felt in crushing a spider. 
Meanwhile he had practically abandoned the domestic helm 
and had no right to be surprised that the family ship was 
drifting out of its course. He was very angry, and, conse- 
quently, unreasonable. 

“ Daughter, it is your own fault that your brother does not 
seek your society. You should make yourself agreeable to him. 
He wastes his time in folly and you waste yours indulging 
the caprices of an idle, romping girl. This nonsense must 
be stopped.” 

Chetta’s eyes showed a slight gleam of dangerous fire as 
she replied, u Advise me, papa.” 

“ My advice is that you settle down and take your place 
as the mistress of this house, and devote to domestic duties 
some of the time you now waste in gadding and nonsense.” 
Chetta was indignant; not at the wish of her father that 
she should take her place as mistress of the house; that pleased 
her active temperament, and she had the good sense to real- 
ize that the wealthiest ladies have domestic duties that can 
not properly be delegated to hired help; but she was stung to 
think that her father and natural counselor should accuse her 
of neglect of duty when he had never shown her a single 
duty. The charges of gadding and idling were intolerable. 
vShe seldom did anything without a purpose, and she despised 
mere inanity. With the quietest sarcasm she replied, “Papa, 
you are in a bad humor to-day.” 

Scolding betrays a contemptible weakness of disposition, 


AN IRON CROWN. 19 

v. 

and both these persons had too much strength of character to 
scold. Mr. Ingledee restrained his rising passion. 

“ Chetta, I wish you to change entirely your mode of life, 
as an example to your brother. You indulge in caprices. I 
see evidences of that before me. You appear to be engaged 
in charity in breakfasting children in your room.” 

The word appear contained a covert sarcasm in the slight 
emphasis with which it was uttered. 

“ Papa, you forget. An Ingledee never pretends ,” re- 
plied Chetta, in a tone that plainly spoke defiance to his 
implied sneer. No possible reply could have touched him 
quicker. The reference to the Ingledee straight-forwardness, 
of which he made capital, was a home thrust. 

u I had hoped so, my daughter, but why do you conceal 
those persons, whoever they may be? I plainly heard them 
enter that room.” 

“ I conceal nothing. I incited here two boys from my 
Sunday-school class. They are not used to company, and 
persisted in running away. That is all.” 

Going to the door she called, “ Pipe, come in and see 
papa.” 

A rare spectacle now met the astonished vision of Mr. 
Ingledee. From the side door emerged one of those nonde- 
scripts known as a newsboy. He was about twelve years old, 
but large and well developed for that age. He wore a man’s 
Prince Albert coat, much the worse for wear, whose ample 
skirts dangled at his heels. For want of buttons this garment 
was securely and picturesquely fastened at the waist by a 
hempen string. A boot which yawned at the toe like the 
mouth of a cat-fish, and a woman’s shoe constituted his foot 
gear. These, however, were carefully polished, thereby pre- 
senting a striking contrast to the street-mud brown of his 
pants. The latter garment had been newly patched with 
shiny black cloth on the knees, revealing the fact that Pipe 
Malley had a mother. Concerning the condition of the rear 
of the useful garment referred to, a modest silence is best, sup- 
plemented by Mrs. Malley’s opinion: u Sure, Pipe, won’t the 
tail av the coat cover them little holes? When they get big 
enough I’ll see what they need.” 

The patches on the knees were the result of considerable 
importunity on the part of Pipe, the clinching argument in 
which was that “ he had a invite inter high society, and had 
got to sling on a little style.” 


20 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Pipe’s check shirt, which had been lately washed, in con- 
sequence of aforesaid invite, was neatly fastened at the throat 
by a bit of red tape found at a ragpicker’s, and the nearest 
approach Pipe had ever made to a tie. Vest, he had none; 
socks, he had none. He had made a heroic attempt to wash 
his face and hands, but the experiment was a partial failure 
resulting in that streaky appearance which might appropri- 
ately be termed marbling. This ineffectual attempt, how- 
ever, gave a somewhat better view of his visage, which had 
been so long eclipsed. His features were not bad, with 
the exception of a big mouth and irregular teeth. His pierc- 
ing black eyes indicated a decided disposition not u to be fooled 
with,” to use one of Pipe’s favorite expressions. 

Mr. Malley had made an abortive attempt to paste his 
hair down on his forehead after the prevailing fashion of the 
genus u young gent.” 

Chetta having complimented him on this approach to high 
art, he replied laconically, “ It’s mighty expensive, I tell you . 
I done up a ten-cent comb a doin’ up that hair.” 

On the appearance of this apparition amid his own highly 
respectable belongings, Mr. Ingledee’s sense of humor got the 
better of his vexation, and he laughed outright. Pipe, with 
the assurance acquired in his calling, advanced to the center 
of the room and awaited developments. 

“ Papa, this is one of my Sunday-school boys, Mr. Pipe 
Malley.” 

The Pipe before her was so much superior to the Pipe she 
had first known some months before, that she was actually 
proud of him. 

Mr. Ingledee’s quick perceptions noticed this, but instead 
of feeling pleasure in the thought that his daughter w r as will- 
ing to endure a little trouble to advance the happiness of 
others, he regretted that her missionary efforts had not been 
expended at home in advancing the interests of the male In- 
gledees. 

“ Y ou have a good teacher, Pipe.” 

w Bet yer boots — I mean yes, sir,” said Pipe, with a dismal 
attempt at a bow, which consisted in scraping the cat-fish- 
jawed boot backward on the floor and twisting his body in 
that direction. This acrobatic feat made it impossible for him 
to face Mr. Ingledee. As Pipe had only one boot, the odds 
of the proposed wager would have been greatly in his favor. 
Chetta and Mr. Ingledee both laughed in spite of themselves. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


21 


“ It is hard to avoid that expression, isn’t it, Pipe,” said 
Chetta, good-naturedly, trying to reassure him. 

“You bet it is,” replied Pipe, whose assurance had all 
vanished amid these strange surroundings, and for the first 
time in his life he was hopelessly embarassed. 

Say only, “Yes sir, and yes ma’am.” 

“ I forgot — I beg parding.” 

“ Where is Quill? ” 

“ He wouldn’t come out o’ that room. He’s a goose.” 

M r. Ingledee, to reassure the boy, asked: “Is it your 

brother who is in that room ? ” 

“ Yes sir, I’m twins.” 

“Oh, indeed! Chetta, call him.” Chetta, going to the 
door, brought out Quill Malley, who had been industriously 
devouring a pocket full of nuts and cake taken from the table 
on the first alarm. Quill’s mouth being full to repletion, the 
excitement of the occasion caused some of the food to stick in 
his windpipe, when a very animated fit of coughing ensued. 
Pipe promptly administered the heroic remedy of pounding 
him on the back with the seasonable advice: “ Brace up, and 
don’t give yerself away before the govenor.” Quill was the 
exact counterpart of Pipe, though a scar on the cheek, which 
the latter acquired in a street fight, furnished a ready means of 
telling them apart. Quill’s dress was less pretentious. Pipe 
had confidentially remarked to Chetta over his coffee: 

“ There’s no use in Quill tryin’ to catch onto the style; it 
ain’t in him.” 

His personal appearance seemed to justify this observation. 
A very inadequate jacket which Pipe had cast off as too small, 
struggled vainly to cover the upper portion of Quill’s person. 
His pants were much the same as Pipe’s, because the same 
street mud had furnished color for both. One striking differ- 
ence was apparent. They had holes in the knees, but were 
patched roughly but strongly behind with the same shiny black 
cloth which adorned Pipe’s knees. Mrs. Malley, with timely 
investigation, had discovered that owing to the shortness of 
Quill’s jacket patches on the rear of his pants might in “ high 
society” be considered a necessity; whereas, patching the 
knees must be considered in the light of a luxury. Quill wore 
shoes which were so large that they clattered up and down at 
every step and were constantly being lost in the excitement of 
running down a customer. His attempt at washing had been 
still more unsuccessful than Pipe’s. As to combing his head 


22 


AN IRON CROWN. 


that part of Quill’s toilet had been entirely neglected probably 
from no fault of his, but from the fact that Pipe, who was al- 
ways first in everything, and in the family vernacular “ ruled 
the roost,” had “done up ” the family comb. 

“ Speak up, Quill, and don’t make a guy of yerself s’ if ye 
had never seen nothin’.” As Quill had never seen anything 
like his present surroundings where a real “governor” was 
thrown in gratis, his«astonishment could only be suitably ex- 
pressed by a prolonged stare. Language was to him utterly 
inadequate. 

The absurdity of the situation had at first amused Mr. In- 
gledee. But this millionaire, who was none too scrupulous in 
his great undertakings, thought, like most people in every 
rank of life, that it was best at times to be a stickler after lit- 
tle things. This weakness of mankind is one of the surest 
tests of character. Only a little soul will haggle over little 
things. Mr. Ingledee, the many fold millionaire, who al- 
most swayed the finances of a continent, and who played with 
railway systems, as the angler plays with a struggling fish 
before landing him, had, with all his force of character, an 
exceedingly small soul animated by unworthy and ungenerous 
motives. He was the very incarnation of selfishness which 
is perhaps the most despicable of human vices. He lived, 
toiled and dreamed to pile up more millions, no matter how, 
and to keep them all in the family in the person of a worth- 
less son. This moiling money-king might have given a thou- 
sand or two in charity any day, because other people gave, 
and because it was right to aid the worthy poor, but it was 
not the proper thing to have dirty newsboys and ragpickers 
feasting amid the splendors of the Ingledee mansion. 

“ Chetta,” he said, with deliberation, “ I am shocked at 
your low tastes. This sort of thing may do at the mission 
school, though it might better be left to others entirely. 
Could you not amuse yourself in some way consistent with 
womanly dignity? Almsgiving is very well, but such per- 
sons should be attended to at the kitchen door.” This 
thrust touched Chetta’s pride. 

“ Papa, you are mistaken. These boys are not here seek- 
ing alms. They belong to my Sunday-school class. They 
probably were never invited anywhere before in their lives, 
and I wished to give them a treat. They are human be- 
ings. Is there anything unwomanly in having a human feel- 
ing?” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 3 


u Certainly not, my daughter, but it should be exercised 
with discretion.” 

u Upon rich people who don’t need it, I suppose? ” 

u As I said, the giving of alms is very necessary, but bring- 
ing tramps and beggars to the private table is another matter. 
It displeases me, and I hope it will never occur again.” So 
- saying, Mr. Ingledee walked from the room. The matter 
which had all at once so ruffled his sense of dignity, might 
have occurred fifty times without his knowing it, thanks to his 
neglect of family affairs. 

Pipe Malley, who was really a lad of high spirit, had 
swallowed the allusion to beggars with a very bad grace. In 
fact, he was on the point of replying to the taunt when a 
warning look from Chetta prevented the execution of his in- 
tention. Quill, who cared for nothing else, while there was 
plenty to eat handy, was furtively consuming vast quantities 
of jelly cake. His efforts in that direction, though arduous, 
could not keep pace with his desires, and he aided his inade- 
quate powers by occasionally straightening up his neck after 
the manner of a chicken swallowing dry meal. Pipe, happen- 
ing to turn around toward the table, brought the zealous ef- 
forts of his brother to an abrupt close. Like many fond rela- 
tives, when they wish to say something particularly disagree- 
able he saw a chance to work off his ill-humor on his own 
blood. 

u Quill, wot yer doin’ ? Leaf go that cake. Hain’t yer 
no manners? Ye act as if ye’d never been in company 
afore.” 

In justification of Quill it must be admitted that his experi- 
ences in company were rather limited. The only occasion on 
which he had ever been invited out was years before, when 
his mother took tea with one Mrs. Riley, washerwoman. 
The twins, being of tender age, were necessarily included in 
the invitation. They played in the alley with Patsey Riley, 
while the mysterious process of tea went on, receiving each a 
huge slice of bread and butter and the drumstick of a chicken, 
at the back door, to stay a clamorous appetite until the second 
table was ready. Quill knew his brother too well to disobey 
a wish so explicitly put, and, though he was full to the nose, 
abandoned the table with a look of fond regret. Chetta now 
delicately intimated to the twins that she would show them 
out. As they were on the stairs, the street bell rang and the 
servant handed her a card inscribed, “ Thomas Norwell.” 


2 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Show Mr. Norwell in.” 

Tom Norwell was a very old friend of Chetta’s, who was 
privileged to call at any time. Being the son of a wealthy 
man he was a young gentleman of leisure, and as the even- 
ings both of himself and Chetta were usually taken up by 
some society event, he had acquired the habit of making short 
calls during the day, and not infrequently in the forenoon. 
As Chetta was an early riser, there was no difficulty in find- 
ing her at home. Quill, on hearing the front door open, be- 
came panic stricken. He feared that the governor was 
returning, and had serious doubts as to what might be the in- 
tentions of that worthy should he discover this undesirable 
company still on his premises. Quill thought it best to beat 
a hasty retreat, and remembering that he came in the back 
way, determined to go out at the rear, as involving less pub- 
licity. He bolted back through the hallway, and in his precipi- 
tation lost one shoe, exposing a chocolate-colored foot. A shoe 
was not to be considered when personal safety was involved, 
and Quill kept on till his flight abruptly terminated in a small 
sitting-room at the end of the hall. Tom Norwell laughed 
heartily, but Chetta had seen so many freaks of the twins that 
it caused her no surprise. 

“ Miss Ingledee, are you training a circus troupe? ” 
u No, Mr. Norwell, I’ve had some company to a quiet 
breakfast — two of my class.” 

u Ah, delightfully original company, I should say.” 
“Very! I take great interest in studying characters so 
different from any I have been accustomed to.” 

Pipe M alley’s sense of family dignity was again outraged 
by Quill’s conduct. Making a run after the fugitive he 
brought him back triumphantly by the collar. 

“ Come up and be interduced. Wot ye runnin’ away fur? 
An’ one shoe off, too! I’m ashamed of ye, I am. I’ll never 
make nothin’ o’ you.” 

The shoe was replaced by the humiliated and silent Quill, 
and the twins formed in line to be introduced. 

“Mr. Norwell, allow me to introduce Mr. Pipe Malley, 
Mr. Quill Malley.” 

Pipe drew back the cat-fish boot much as the leg of a com- 
pass would move, and twisted his body stiffly to the right, at 
the same time nudging Quill, who, not having fully recovered 
from his panic, ducked his head several times excitedly, his 
actions resembling those of a goose in a hail storm. Of 


AN IRON CROWN. 25 

course he overdid it, and Pipe was again mortified. He felt 
called upon to apologize for Quill. 

“ Miss Ingledee, if you please, ma’am, Quill is sort o’ broke 
up. He ain’t used to this kind o’ thing, but I guess he’ll come 
out all right.” 

Chetta kindly replied that she thought he would come out, 
while Quill mentally resolved he’d never come out again if he 
knew it. Like many other resolves of loftier purpose, this 
one was broken. It afterward went to pieces under the 
seductive influences of ice-cream and jelly cake. Chetta di- 
rected the servant to show out the twins, while she herself led 
the way into the parlor. 


CHAPTER III. 

THE MORAL ASPECTS OF A DOLLAR. 

Mr. Norwell, Tom’s father, lived in an aristocratic neigh- 
borhood on one of the up-town cross streets, and near Fifth 
avenue. The family mansion was a large, old-fashioned, red- 
brick house of homely exterior. Lest the impression may 
prevail from this statement that it was built by the Dutch set- 
tlers, the reader is reminded that people often go out of fash- 
ion in America in one year, houses in from two to ten. 
Nothing in its outward appearance distinguished it from doz- 
ens of other houses in that vicinity. Within, all its appoint- 
ments showed it to be the home of a family of abundant 
means and excellent taste. The heavy carpets sank under 
the feet like the velvety moss in a deep forest. Costly pic- 
tures by artists of note adorned the walls of the spacious par- 
lors and reception rooms. The library contained a large 
collection of valuable books selected, however, more with 
reference to their intrinsic worth than to rarity or the acci- 
dental merit of historical interest. 

Mr. Norwell had made a fortune as a manufacturer, and 
some five years before the date at which this story begins, had 
retired from business to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He was 
a gentleman in the widest sense of the term. His intellectual 
faculties were decidedly above the average, and he passed for a 
well-informed man. But his wealth was the result more of a 


/' 


2 6 an iron crown. 

fortunate combination of circumstances than from any remark- 

%/ 

able degree of foresight, though he was a hard-working, care- 
ful man. A lucky hit in the manufacture of a certain line of 
popular goods, by a process hard to imitate, had made his for- 
tune almost to his surprise. 

Soon after Mr. Norwell’s retirement from business, his 
> wife died, and the family now consisted of himself, his son 
Tom, and a daughter, Alice. Tom was a big, hearty, good- 
humored fellow, six feet high, with a hue figure. His light 
hair was slightly inclined to curl. His eyes were a light blue, 
full of tenderness and expression. His well-developed chin 
was smoothly shaven, and his full lips parted, or had a ten- 
dency to part very slightly, indicating a love of pleasure and 
a lack of firmness. His nose was clearly cut and his forehead 
prominent, indicating more than average brain power. His 
flow of animal spirits, resulting from exuberant health, in- 
clined him to an activity and restlessness scarcely to he ex- 
pected in a young man whose only mission is to inherit and 
spend his father’s money. Tom was so generous and so good 
natured that everybody liked him. He was the beau ideal of 
the ladies, for he possessed those qualities which, combined 
with youth and a handsome person, invariably make captive 
the female heart. 

Alice Norwell was slightly above the medium height and 
had little resemblance to her brother. She had brown hair, a 
clear, beautiful brown eye, that carried conviction of honesty 
in its steady open expression, mouth rather large, lips clear 
cut but not full. Her mouth, which closed firmly when in 
repose, indicated decision and steadiness of purpose. Her 
delicately chiseled nose was large and inclined somewhat to 
the Roman type, with a good breadth of nostril. There was 
not the fraction of a grain of superfluous flesh about that very 
expressive adjunct to the human countenance. The forehead 
was rather too prominent to be considered beautiful in a 
woman. A prominent but well-rounded chin, the oval out- 
line of the face and a pleasing expression saved their possessor 
from being called homely. Her expression was one of thought- 
fulness and kindly interest. 

Alice Norwell could not be called a handsome woman, 
yet the most fastidious connoisseur of female beauty would 
never have thought of calling her homely. She was a woman 
who could entertain intelligent people on most subjects, yet 
was no blue stocking. The young man of the period (I mean 


AN IRON CROWN. 


27 


the society young man who thinks the mission of the race is 
to waltz) would care little for her from the fact that the pitia- 
ble occupation of a fop disqualifies him from discriminating 
between the intellectual diamond and a very shabby paste imi- 
tation. His tastes all incline him toward the latter by a spe- 
cies of instinct, just as his wit never soars above a pun. This, 
doubtless, is in accordance with nature’s universal law, that 
like always produces or selects like. 

Miss Norwell understood all the recreations of high 
society. She danced well, she skated, she played a capital 
game of whist; if courtesy required it she could talk airy 
nothings after the fashion of the most assiduous prattlers, 
though she always reckoned time spent in such conversation, 
if conversation it may be called, as practically lost, so far as 
any useful purpose is concerned. She recognized one tangi- 
ble result, the negative satisfaction that such exercise teaches us 
how silly mankind may become, and shows us, if we are not 
hopelessly sense blind, to avoid such depths of garrulous idiocy. 
One thing she could not do, she could not flirt. Though con- 
scious of her power of pleasing many men, she confined that 
power to its legitimate scope. 

She looked on that enticing social game in which the 
stakes are hearts (often the property of some one else) in its 
true light, as a social sin. For this and other reasons she 
looked upon Chetta Ingledee with secret mistrust, for she 
thought she discovered in that eccentric young lady a dispo- 
sition to flirt, and worst of all, to flirt with her brother Tom. 
This was the cause of a growing dislike toward Chetta. 
For one woman to forage on the social or domestic preserves 
of another, brothers included in a lesser degree, is always an 
unpardonable offence in the eyes of that other. Alice had 
too much good sense to precipitate a rupture on insufficient 
grounds. Hence, the families of Ingledee and Norwell were 
still on good terms, in spite of the fact that Mr. Ingledee was 
a rising money king, with a great many millions, and Mr. 
Norwell a poor man with only two or three millions, and two 
children to support in the bargain. 

At the present time there was visiting the family a young 
man, Arthur Wilson, who was the son of one of Mr. Nor- 
well’s old friends. His father had been brought up in the 
same neighborhood in New York State, in which Mr. Nor- 
well lived when a boy. The latter had at an early age, come 
to the city to seek his fortune, and now the son of his former 


28 


AN IRON CROWN. 


friend, released from the ties of his native place by the death 
of his parents, had pursued the same course. 

As Arthur Wilson plays a very important part in this his- 
tory, the reader may as well know at once what manner of 
man he was. He was about twenty-two years of age, which 
perhaps is the most interesting period in the life of a man, 
potent as it is with unmeasured possibilities for good or evil. 
It is the age at which the springing powers of nature assert 
themselves in full force, and the youthful mind possesses a 
confidence which can be measured only by its inexperience. 
The young man is now freed from paternal restraint, and his 
self-conceit springs full armed like Minerva from the head of 
Jove. He thinks it the proper thing to have opinions on every 
subject, and very decided ones too. He imagines it enhances 
his social importance to be a little reckless, and occasionally 
he shocks his friends by fostering skepticism at the period 
when he begins to nurture a moustache. If home restraints have 
been irksome he is liable, in his new found liberty to gravitate 
dangerously near the opposite extreme of the social plane, 
and undo in a few years or months, the result of many years 
of anxious but mistaken parental care. On the other hand, no 
matter how aimless his life, if not criminal, the exuberant 
impulses of youth may be diverted into wholesome channels, 
and the scapegrace boy become the corner-stone of society as 
a man. 

It was greatly in young Wilson’s favor that he had been 
obliged to earn his own living. No school is so wholesome 
and efficient as the school of respectable poverty. The ardu- 
ous labor and wholesome fare of farm life, had developed a 
physical and mental structure, which was a splendid capital in 
itself to begin life on. In person he was five feet eight, stoutly 
built with broad chest, and firm, well-turned limbs. He had 
very thick light hair, which inclined to stand up and straggle 
in defiance of propriety and comb. He had a keen gray eye, 
Grecian nose, firm mouth inclined to humor and a wide, round 
chin. He possessed a vigorous, well-trained will power, and 
Ijarge conscientiouness combined with a becoming dignity. A 
self-esteem which might have become obnoxious, under un- 
favorable conditions, had been well toned down under the 
hard knocks of adverse fortune. He had learned early, that it 
is hard for a poor boy to indulge in the pyrotechnic display, 
vulgarly known as setting the world on fire. 

“ Then you have determined definitely to settle in the city, 


AN IRON CROWN. 29 

Arthur?” said Mr. Norwell, as the family and their guest sat 
at breakfast. 

44 Yes, it seems to me the country affords very poor oppor- 
tunities for rising in the world. Father worked hard all his 
life on his little farm and then died poor.” 

44 Yet you always had enough to eat and wear, and some 
good books to read?” 

u Oh yes, we always had plenty of those things, but I 
hardly call that living.” 

44 When a man goes beyond the necessaries and homely 
comforts of life, his wants are only a question of purse, incli- 
nation and caprice. It is just as easy, my boy, to spend twenty 
thousand per year as five thousand, and be no better off for it, 
too.” 

44 1 should like to be able to try it for awhile,” said Wilson. 

44 I should get a great deal of fun out of it I’m sure,” added 
Tom. 

“And do a great many foolish things no doubt, Thomas,” 
retorted Mr. Norwell. 44 1 see Arthur, you have the orthodox 
American idea, that a man without money is hardly worth 
considering. It is a fallacy; honest poverty is infinitely more 
honorable than ill-gotten or criminally gotten wealth.” 

44 A poor man is all well enough,” said Tom, 44 but you 
know very well he amounts to nothing nowadays.” 

44 That is from the rich man’s standpoint,” quietly replied 
Alice. 

44 From any standpoint you choose. I mean to make a for- 
tune early in life.” 

44 It is hard work, Thomas, and usually it does not come 
early,” said Mr. Norwell. 44 You will have a competence if 
you only take care of it. As a rule the mere drudgery, rivalry, 
and selfishness necessary to acquiring a fortune, crush out 
most of the desirable qualities of manhood, and render the 
attainment of a high ideal impossible. Arthur, my advice is 
go back to the country. You may never be a rich man, but' 
you will always be sure of honor and a competence by rea- 
sonable effort. The country is nature’s smiling workshop, 
the city is a vast treadmill, where every toiler is a beast of 
burden chained to his post. In the country the self-respecting 
poor man is an esteemed member of society. The alluring 
pleasures of city society are not for the poor man, nor even for 
the man of moderate means. You have read with envy doubt- 
less, of the brilliant receptions, balls and doings of the gay in- 


3 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


habitants of Gotham. The people who can afford all that 
are a small number compared with the toiling thousands. 
Only a golden key will unlock the doors of these abodes of 
elegant pleasure, and then you will find them vanity and dis- 
appointment. It’s hard work, and the game isn’t worth the 
candle. Stick to the country.” 

“ Father, this vanity you speak of is a very popular one at 
least. I intend to show Arthur some of it.” 

“And I’ll show him its silliness,” added Alice. “You 
needn’t think, Tom, you are going to monopolize our guest.” 
“He has no notion to try your philosophy now, sister. 
Have you, Wilson?” 

“ I should be glad to study all phases of city life, and I 
flatter myself that my wish may be gratified under such com- 
petent guidance as that of yourself and Miss Norwell.” 

* “ If you really conclude to try your fortune here,” said Mr. 
Norwell, “I think I can get you something to do. I have 
shown you the worst side to begin on, you know.” 

“ And it seems to me you have stated it very unfairly,” 
added Tom. “ Look at the vast fortunes made in cities. Look 
at Mr. Ophir, your old friend.” 

“ Thomas, there is only one Ophir.” In explanation it 
may be said that Mr. Ophir had also sprung from a farmer’s 
family. He, while a boy, had quitted the farm and after en- 
gaging in various respectable occupations, had finally gravi- 
tated to the level of a railroad-stock manipulator with the 
most unexampled success. He now owned more railroads 
than his own poor old father had ever owned cows. 

“Where there is one Cphir, there may be two.” 

“ I hope not, Thomas] one is quite sufficient. In fact, I 
think the country would be better off if none had ever existed.” 
“ Look at Ingledee, too.” 

“ Tom,” Alice quietly interposed, “your examples are far 
fetched and absurd. Mr. Wilson certainlv would not think 
of engaging in any business subject to such fluctuations and 
uncertainties as stock gambling. Nobody would.” 

“ Plenty of people do,” replied Tom. “ There is stacks of 
money to be made in Wall street, and I shall enter it myself 
some day.” 

“ Better keep out, my son. It is all a lottery, and the best 
of them go to the wall sooner or later. Money won unfairly 
always proves a curse to its possessor. The trite adage, Money 
is the root of all evil, is a trite falsehood. Money earned in 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 1 


legitimate ways is, if I may employ such a figure, preserved 
labor. We take a portion of it from our store, and use it 
when needed, as we would use a can of fruit preserved for a 
similar purpose. If labor be man’s chiefest blessing, then 
such money is wholly a blessing, for it is only another form 
of labor.” 

44 It is the money we are after nowadays, father, and if we 
can make in W all street in a few days what formerly re- 
quired years of toil, what is the odds, so we have the money?” 

a You forget, Thomas, that the moral influences pertain- 
ing to a dollar are of infinitely greater value than the dollar 
itself.” 

The moral aspect of a dollar! Tom laughed heartily at 
the idea. This young man had been taught to attend church 
regularly, and to pray at his mother’s knee as a child. He 
had handled many dollars and spent still more, but here was 
presented a new and totally unexpected aspect of this useful 
and exceedingly attractive coin. The moral aspects of a 
dollar! He was inclined to jocularity, and laughed again. 

“Father, when I find an unusually moral dollar I intend 
to take it into Wall street as a curiosity.” 

44 Go into the street as an operator and get out with sound 
morals, and you will have accomplished the same object,” 
said Mr. Norwell drily. 

44 Remember, Tom,” said Wilson, 44 that a waste of morals 
accompanies a waste of dollars.” 

44 So on our explorations, we’ll save both,” added Tom. 

44 The idea of two young men seeing New York under 
such parsimonious conditions,” observed Alice satirically. 

“By the way, father,” queried Tom, “have you made any ar- 
rangements with Mr. Ophir yet, concerning those Continental 
and Pacific bonds and stocks? From all appearances they are 
the best thing ever offered to the public.” 

44 1 shall see him to-day about the matter. Ophir is very 
sure that they are just what I want for permanent invest- 
ment.” 

44 Papa, have you never thought that Mr. Ophir is himself 
the leader in Wall street? ” 

44 Certainly, Alice. I also remember that he is my old 
personal friend; that I have helped him out of many a diffi- 
culty in the old days, and that he has helped me more than 
once. I can rely on John Ophir, though others have cause of 
complaint. Now, children,” said Mr. Norwell, rising from 


3 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


the table, “ I shall expect you to make Mr. Wilson feel at 
home. Your forces are ample for the occasion. In seeing 
New York as it is, you will not need the aid of an old-fash- 
ioned chap like me.” 

“I shall draw on you unsparingly, nevertheless,” said 
Arthur, with a pleasant smile. 

“ We two can get along famously,” Tom added, thought- 
lessly, forgetting that he had a sister. 

That sister had no notion of being quietly ignored in that 
fashion. With a quizzical glance which rebuked Tom’s 
thoughtlessness, she ^sked: 

“ May I not offer my assistance? ” 

“ I shall be only to glad to accept it,” Wilson replied, be- 
fore Tom could say a word. The company now broke up. 
Tom and Arthur took a run around town where everything 
was new to the latter. Mr. Norwell ordered his carriage 
with a view to driving down town, and interviewing Mr. 
Ophir. 


CHAPTER IV. 

SOWING THE' WIND. 

That great man, Ophir, so great in notoriety, was not a 
striking personage to behold. He was not above medium 
size. His head was large and long, both literally and figu- 
ratively. His quick, restless gray eye which was shaded by a 
queer, spiny-looking brow, was as pitiless as a serpent’s, and 
betrayed no more emotion than does the eye of a tish. Its 
calm deliberate gaze revealed no secrets, while you instinct- 
ively felt that it read your thoughts. His nose was long and 
sharp ; his chin slightly turned up to meet it; his face was 
covered by a thick black beard carefully trimmed. 

Mr. Ophir was plainly dressed in a neat business suit of 
brown cassimere. Beyond a heavy gold watch and chain, he 
wore no jewelry whatever. Mr. Ophir had other more effec- 
tive ways of advertising himself than the cheap one of showy 
dress. His office and its furniture were in keeping with the 
man. A serviceable carpet covered the floor. A very large wal- 
nut desk, which had a multiplicity of pigeon-holes, numerous 
letter files, a few comfortable chairs, and a bookcase contain- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


33 


ing chiefly volumes of statistics, commercial reports and neces- 
sary works of reference, constituted the furniture. Over his 
desk was a beautiful model of his fast-sailing steam yacht, one 
of the fastest ever built, and in every way the pride of a man 
who controlled so much steam in an age of steam. Every- 
thing in the office was substantial, and all, including the yacht 
which represented a gigantic advertisement, subserved one 
object — business. 

Mr. Ophir had been a country boy. He knew what pov- 
erty was and he knew what hard work was. Though his 
wealth was variously estimated at from fifty to seventy-five 
millions, he was to be found at his desk in his private office, 
or closeted with his brokers in the vicinity during business- 
hours most of the time, unless when absent from the city 
looking after his numerous great railway properties. He was 
still in fact a hard worker though so very rich, and it was a 
common remark among his clerks that he could accomplish 
more work in a given time under pressure than any man 
among them. The instinct of accumulation is an appetite 
that never feels satiety, but whets on a surfeit of food. 
Coupled with ambition, it drove this delving slave daily to 
the task of piling his great pyramid a little higher. 

The strain upon the great stock operator, or gambler, if 
the reader prefers the plainer term, during periods of un- 
usual excitement in the markets, is something tremendous and 
almost inconceivable to the uninitiated. With immense inter- 
ests at stake, perhaps mounting into millions, and the possi- 
bility that the fluctuations of a day or even an hour may 
make or unmake fortunes, the strain upon the human ma- 
chines involved in these tremendous operations is something 
terrific. Compared with life at such a time the existence of 
the galley-slave may be envied. He, poor wretch, feels that 
whatever may happen, nothing worse can befall him while", 
the dealer in “ options” may be compelled to sit down, not 
calmly, for that is impossible, but despairingly, and see a re- 
morseless turn of the market consume his fortune to the last 
penny. 

Nay, it does not always stop there, but often leaves the mis- 
erable incubus of a debt which he can never repay. He may 
kiss his smiling wife and prattling babes a fond adieu in the 
morning, with the self-satisfaction of a man worth one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and at night drag his wretched steps 
through the door of his beautiful home with a debt of one 


3 


AN IRON CROWN. 


34 

hundred thousand dollars. There is to him sometimes one of 
those compensations with which nature alleviates nearly every 
great evil. The verv character of his operations often so 
deadens his finer sense of honor, if he ever had any, that he 
looks with indifference on the debt remaining and reserves 
his laments for the money gone forever. Speculation is a 
hideous cancer on modern civilization, that eats up not only 
bodily substance, but honor as well. 

Mr. Ophir was a man among millions for the business. 
A great nation of fifty millions, fortunately, has produced but 
four or five like him, and none so successful. He often lost, 
as a matter of course, but he did not whine over his losses. In- 
stead, he quietly and warily laid his plans for accomplishing 
that anatomic feat surgically known in Wall street as “taking 
the hides ” of his opponents. Another of nature’s compensa- 
tions may here be remarked. Wall street operators, like eels, 
are used to being skinned. The country, though pretty 
well used to it, too, shows symptoms of raising serious ob- 
jections. 

As Mr. Norwell entered the corridor of the building in 
which Ophir’s offices were situated, he noticed a powerful 
Italian lounging about without any apparent purpose. This 
fellow was a giant in build, with the strength of an ox, and 
the dangerous stealth of a tiger. fie carefully scanned each 
visitor, though appearing to see nothing, out of little coal- 
black eyes hid under shaggy brows. Mr. Norwell presented 
„ his card to the usher, who, seeing Ophir’s well-known signa- 
ture, naming an appointment at the hour which had just 
struck, at once admitted him to the presence of the great 
Ophir. At the same time the burly Italian quietly slipped in- 
to the outer reception-room, and seating himself, industriouslv 
read a paper. Who was this mysterious man? Only Mr. 
Ophir’s shadow — a very substantial one, who followed him 
everywhere, lest some of the aforesaid gentlemen whose cuti- 
cle had been removed, perhaps with insufficient gentleness, 
should offer the anatomist personal attentions of an unpleasant 
nature. Such is the divinity that hedges round a railway 
king. Ophir greeted his old friend with great cordiality. 

u Good-morning, Norwell. How are you?” 

“ I* irst rate, Ophir, first rate.” 

u I m to see you. I envy your happiness since you re- 
tiied fiom business, for old triends we see little of each 
other.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 35 

“ I am sorry for that, too, Ophir, for after all there are 
no friends quite so near as early friends.” 

“ Yes, it takes twenty years to make a friend, and old fel- 
lows like ourselves haven’t the time. We make only ac- 
quaintances.” 

“ Why don’t you retire from business, too, and take life 
easy. You have money enough.” 

“ In my position that is very hard to do. Of course I care 
nothing for more money. But the love of the business grows, 
and really I think I see opportunity for two or three crown- 
ing achievements yet before I quit. But,” he added abruptly, 
“we are wasting time. You wanted information concerning" 
Continental and Pacific, I believe?” 

“ Yes, and I have called on you as an old friend for inside 
facts. Is it a good thing and a safe thing?” 

“ It is the best thing in the market. As an evidence of 
my faith in it, I will say that I control nearly a third of the 
whole stock, and own a very large holding of its bonds. 
Chrysolite is also largely interested. I will give you a few 
details. As you are aware the government grants us a large 
bonus in bonds. In the mountain portions this bonus is 
doubled, and for one hundred and fifty miles over the crest 
trebled.” Mr. Ophir added with refreshing naivete, “We hope 
to be able to get a bill through Congress authorizing us to issue 
our own bonds for at least an equal amount, giving them pre- 
cedence over the government lien as a first mortgage on the 
road. We shall also try to get the land grant doubled. This 
bill, of course, is not absolutely certain to pass, but we Hope 
to convince Congress of the desirability of such action.” 

The private arguments employed to influence Congress- 
men by Mr. Ophir and his fellow-conspirators of the Midland 
Pacific, are a matter of surmise, almost reaching proof posi- 
tive; that they carried their point is a matter of history. The 
new bill passed in due time, and by its provisions many mil- 
lions of dollars and several additional million acres of land 
were absolutely given to these great corporations. Mr. Nor- 
well thought he was beginning to see inside facts. 

It may be remarked here, though a rather obvious deduc- 
tion, that when a man in such cases applies for “ inside” facts 
with the previous belief that there may be money made from 
such knowledge, he has taken the first step toward reconcil- 
ing himself to those facts, and, indeed, toward getting on the 
inside himself as speedily as possible. Mr. Nor well had no 


3 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


dishonorable motive whatever. He would have scorned to 
take advantage of any one. It had merely been hinted to 
him that some one was going to make a great deal of money 
out of this colossal railway enterprise. If it was to be made, 
and he could do it legitimately, he would take his share. But 
he was hardly prepared for so refreshing a statement of the 
case. He had some questions to ask. Mr. Ophir, who seldom 
mistook his man, was ready to answer: 

“ May not the opposition in Congress inquire into this 
matter? What will the papers say?” 

“ Doubtless there will be some debate in Congress, and 
some objections. There always are. But the people will not 
understand the question any further than that there was a 
great deal of speech- making.” Such, it must be confessed, is 

too often the case. The people think that the Honorable Blank 
had a very lively tilt with the Honorable Shank, whose ob- 
struction tactics became disagreeable, and that Blank effect- 
ively sat upon Shank, completely demoralizing the opposition, 
to Blank’s great credit as a patriot and a statesman. That is 
all the people usually know about the matter, or care either. 
“As to the papers,” continued Ophir, “ that is managed very 
easily. The country papers take their cue from the great city 
dailies. I think I can keep things all smooth through' my in- 
fluence with the Daily Planet. In fact, I don’t mind telling 
you confidentially that I own a majority of the stock of the 
Planet.” 

“Oh, I see! The Planet will puff the Continental and 
Pacific, and the public will swallow the puff.” 

“ That’s about it, only the articles relating to this great 
national highway will be too solid, and well written to be de- 
scribed by the somewhat objectionable term you have just ap- 
plied to them. The staff of the Planet are men of brains. 
The argument which will be relied on chiefly, is the obvious 
fact that our road is a great national necessity.” Mr. Ophir 
used the pronoun ou r, referring to this “great national neces- 
sity,” much as if he had been referring to his house or his 
children. He was furtively putting salt on the tail of this 
magnificent bird, the C. & P., and hoped some time to have 
him securely in his own private cage. 

“ Ophir, who has charge of your interests in Congress?” 

“ The Honorable Dave Sawder.” (The Hon. Dave was 
member for one of the city districts.) “Pie is just the man. 
We can rely on him to carry the measure through. He is 


AN IRON CROWN. 


37 


very popular with the people, chiefly through his scathing at- 
tacks on the minority. This alone will just now insure his 
influence with the majority. The minority never fail to put 
their heads in the noose. All they need to hang themselves, 
is plenty of rope. That, Sawder and two or three others will 
pay out liberally. But while he lashes the opposition merci- 
lessly in public he is on very good terms with some of them 
in private. His motto is, ; Votes, not men.’ ” 

“ I for one, and, in fact, I think nearly everybody look on 
this road as a necessity. Then, why is so much wire pulling 
necessary to get it through?” 

“ Norwell, the difficulty is this. While all agree that the 
road is a necessity there are differences of opinion, honest dif- 
ferences, understand,” he added, with childlike simplicity, 
“about the amount of bonds to be granted and the extent of the 
land grant, the repayment of the subsidy, etc., etc. These 
latter points are what we must look to. You see — and this 
is strictly inside information in confidence — we figure that the 
amount of bonds granted by the government, together with 
our own authorized bonds, will about build the road, leaving 
us all the stock of the company and the lands free. Sawder, 
with two or three other reliable men in the House, will, with 
Senator Sublet and others in the Senate, see to the passage of 
this measure, whereby the government will be a deferred 
creditor, instead of sole-preferred creditor, as arranged in the 
original act. Now this is the point of most interest to us. 
When the amended act is passed, as it certainly will, our fifty 
to sixty millions of stock will jump well coward par at once, 
and as the government builds the road for us, we have the 
stock and some ten to fifteen million acres of public lands for 
nothing.* Isn’t that a pretty good thing?” It would have 
been a very unreasonable man who would have complained of 
such a thing. Ophir added, “ But these are strictly inside facts 
in confidence, Norwell.” 

It was useless to reiterate this caution; Norwell was him- 
self on the inside now. After a long life of rectitude and hon- 
orable business enterprise, his own weak spot was touched. 
Such a weak spot exists in every man, though some escape 
probing. Mr. Norwell saw that a scheme was afoot to make 
a great deal of money out of the public. He knew that such 
schemes were nearly sure to go through at that particular 


*See extract from Senator Booth's speech. Note 2. 


33 


AN IRON CROWN. 


time, when the public attention was attracted toward the 
great struggle of the nation for existence. He realized that a 
wrong was to be done, but also realized that any influence he 
could bring to bear would be as futile as an attempt to fly a 
kite in a cyclone. Why not make some money out of it? He 
would do it. With none of Ophir’s reckless disregard of 
public rights, he still had misgivings. 

44 Ophir, will the public stand this thing?” 

44 The public are d— d fools!” 

44 Granting that, will they not some time awake from their 
lethargy when the facts are known? ” 

44 Possibly, but that will not be soon. Meantime ten years 
is all we want to get out of the market. While times are 
good, and everybody making money, who cares to inquire 
how it is made, so long as he gets plenty.” 

44 1 think there will be a day of reckoning.” 

44 Not soon. This plan of railroad building (Ophir spoke of 
it as if it had been a great benevolent scheme instead of a co- 
lossal infamy) is in its infancy. I think there will be twenty 
' years of it, but ten or even five will enable us to get from 
under.” Then Mr. Ophir diverted the conversation for a mo- 
_ rnent by telling a little story by way of illustration. 

64 Norwell, do you remember Bob vSnodgrass who used to 
go to school in our old home district?” 

44 Perfectly well ! His red hair stuck out like a feather 
duster, and looked like the rising sun in a hazy December 
morning.” 

44 Yes,” replied Ophir, laughing, 44 and you also remember 
that old teacher by the name of Hixon ?” 

44 Yes, thin as a shingle.” 

44 And used to wear two pairs of spectacles sometimes, 
one pair forgotten on his forehead, and another pair on 
duty.” 

44 And a huge mouse-colored neckcloth which made him 
look as if he had tried to hang himself with the bedquilt, 
and had been cut down before the act was accomplished.” 

44 Yes, yes. Well, you know Bob Snodgrass used to 
worry that old man till life was a burden to him. He put a 
sucking pig into Hixon’s desk ; he drew uncomplimentary 
pictures of the master on the blackboard; he shut a big dog 
under the floor. The dog’s scratching and panting scared the 
little folks nearly into fits. Remember that?” 

44 I remember it all.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


39 


“W ell, you know, Bob used to keep that up all the week 
till Friday afternoon, then he invariably staid out of school, 
and all the rest of us got a good, old-fashioned flogging, 
which was Hixon’s way of balancing the, week’s score, run 
up chiefly by Bob. Now when the people get wakened up 
and proceed to settle old scores, we’ll be absent. Don’t you 
see? ” 

This was so simple a piece of logic that anybody could 
see it. Norwell’s last query was a very pertinent one. 

“ If this is such a good thing, why don’t you and Oakes- 
worth and Chrysolite keep it all yourselves?” 

u There’s so much of it, we can’t.” This laconic reply 
went so directly to the point, which Mr. Ophir could reach 
most happily when he chose, that Mr. Norwell, at once 
unburdening his mind of any special friendly interest on 
Ophir’ s part, or obligation on his own, replied: 

“ I’ll take a block of the stock. Say one thousand shares.” 
a Pshaw, man; I’ve calculated on your taking ten thousand 
shares.” 

u At sixty-five that is six hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars. I could not raise that easily.” 

“ We do those things differently. Put uu a margin of 
five dollars per share, and wait till Sawder’s bill passes. 
Then your stock will go to seventy-five at once.” 

“ Is that margin safe in case of a drop?” 

“ It can’t drop with the government back of it. Leave 
that to Sawder and to Senator Sublet. See the men who 
are in it. Look at Oakesworth, Bullion and Chrysolite.” 

All these men had, at that time, a good reputation. Had 
Mr. Norwell lived to see the unenviable notoriety some of 
them achieved a few years later, he might have arrived at 
the conclusion that the very fact of these men being in any 
enterprise was a cogent reason why other people should stay 
out. 

U I will take ten thousand shares. I’ll bring my check 

to-morrow or the dav after.” 

•/ 

Thus did these two men close a bargain nominally 
involving a million dollars with less dickering than many 
people would exercise in buying a pair of shoes or selling a 
calf. 

In recommending this venture to his friend, Ophir was 
probably as honest as he ever was or could be in any of his 
great transactions. He really thought that the Continental 


4 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


and Pacific would be as good as he predicted. The game was 
actually so immense that he and his grasping colleagues were 
obliged to call in outside assistance to bag it. Furthermore, 
the lobby in full operation at Washington, besides a good 
deal of Continental and Pacific stock which quietly passed 
into the pockets of members without tangible equivalent, was 
consuming a mint of money just then which Ophir and his 
fellow conspirators did not care to risk alone. Mr. Norwell 
and a few others had money. The great Continental and 
Pacific wanted money now with full assurance of a golden 
harvest in the future. If things went well it would be well 
for all; if not, it would not hurt Ophir and target practice is 
a cheap amusement when other people furnish the powder. 


CHAPTER V. 

MR. ROKER’S RITTLE SCHEME. 

The Argosy Club is one of- the many social institutions 
of New York City. The word club, like charity, covers a 
multitude of purposes. There are literary clubs, musical 
clubs, dancing clubs, polo clubs, etc. But the club of which 
the Argosy was a type is altogether a different affair. It is 
a place where a man may go to read, smoke, lounge, eat, 
drink, play, talk or sleep if he chooses. All these things are 
expensive in a great city, and the member of a popular club 
to be happy must have plenty of money. In consequence 
he is a man of some importance. Personally he may consist 
of a row of ciphers, but his bank and his club are the sig- 
nificant figures that make greatness out of littleness. A club 
is a place where many men spend selfishly that time which 
they should devote to their wives and children in cultivating 
the homely domestic virtues so often neglected by fashionable 
society. The members of the Argosy Club were the cream 
of the moneyed aristocracy of Manhattan Island. A million- 
aire was the smallest possible fish allowed to sport in that 
Pactolian pool, excepting a favored few who were intimately 
connected with millionaires. On these a saving grace had 


an iron crown. 


4i 


been bestowed by proxy, just as a little man slips readily 
through a crowd following in the wake of a big burly man. 

We will take a look at a few of the members, some of 
whom will play important parts in this history. Mr. Ingle- 
dee’s name was on the club roll, also that of Mr. Bullion, Mr. 
Chrysolite, Mr. Crassus and others with whom we have 
nothing to do. Mr. Ophir was not a member. That great 
and good man had a large family, and, contrary to Mr. Ingle- 
dee’s custom, delighted to enjoy their society and indulge in 
domestic endearments. A prominent member was Mr. Ama- 
ziah Snicker, a red-faced fat man who, to use his own thread- 
bare simile, had once “scooped a million out of sugar.” He 
delighted to tell how this remarkable feat had been accom- 
plished, the narrative indicating by the complacent self-con- 
ceit which lurked in every word, tone and gesture, that no 
other man could possibly have carried so great a transaction 
to a successful issue. 

His son, Frederick Snicker, was a dude, — that fantastic 
object of pity which springs up on the acme of the wave of 
civilization just before it begins to sink into semi-barbarism. 
This creature has flourished in all highly-civilized countries, 
and the citizens of the United States may now gaze upon him 
as he takes root in the democratic soil of America. This 
latest flower of civilization, heretofore an exotic, we may now 
safely call our own. He is essentially the gift of Europe, the 
region whence we obtain the English sparrow, the Norway 
rat, numerous bugs of various degrees of disagreeableness, 
and a host of hungry adventurers of all sorts. We may now 
breathe freer in our mad race of progress. We have entered 
into competition with the effete old world in another branch 
of industry, and have as usual carried off the palm, for our 
dude is the prince of all dudes. He is a combination of idiotic 
conceits, tight pants and patchouly. He will have, a whole- 
some example on the manhood of America by showing what 
a contemptible thing an unsexed man is. Let no impious 
tongue, forgetting scriptural injunctions, say that this remark- 
able creature was made in vain. 

On the evening to which the present events may be traced, 
Frederick Snicker with a companion lounged into the smok- 
ing room of the Argosy Club. He had the air of a man 
who believes, or affects to believe, all things trivial and 
unworthy of attention, and life a great bore, to be endured 
much as a faithful, patient wife endures a lazy, selfish lout of 


4 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


a husband, simply because it is inconvenient to get rid of 
him. 

Young Snicker had a soft, creamy complexion, and a 
pretty little pet of a waxed mustache, which held about the 
same proportions to a real mustache that the diminutive ground 
pine does to the majestic, real pine. This microscopic hir- 
sute appendage added little to the commanding expression 
commonly supposed to be inherent in the human countenance 
as distinguished from all other animated nature. I refer par- 
ticularly to that phase of it which is reputed to be able to quell 
the lion’s rising ire. This expression was further depreciated 
by the effect of an insignificant little snub nose and a chin 
which modestly retreated into the recesses of his not very 
ample lower jaw. The ambitious jaw, in attempting to 
swallow the unpretentious chin, had overdone itself, and the 
failure caused irreparable damage to both. 

Snicker’s waist, so unlike the paternal waist, was care- 
fully kept in proper bounds by stays. His lower limbs, — he 
would have been painfully shocked had they been referred to 
as legs, — were encased in very tight, striped pantaloons of 
delicate hues. Nature had not been very lavish with respect 
to Snicker’s lower extremities, and the tailor had been still 
more parsimonious. Asa consequence, the spectator was in 
constant apprehension lest these very inadequate supports 
should suddenly give way and bring disaster to their owner. 
They were assisted, however, in a slight degree, by a tiny little 
flexible cane about large enough for a penholder, which was 
surmounted by a dog’s head carved in ivory. He twirled 
this cane so incessantly that the poor puppy in ivory must 
have been in a chronic condition of dizziness and indignation, 
if capable of reasoning, at this particular species of activity in 
his biped associate. An eyeglass, when not in use to obscure 
vision, dangled on his waistcoat suspended by a silken cord. 
Young Snicker dropped into an easy chair with the air of a 
man who feels that resignation is all that is left him in the 
world, and endurance must soon reach its limit. He remarked 
to his companion, with a drawling lisp which he had by fre- 
quent private rehearsals brought to a state of perfection : 

u Weally, Roker, this is vewy unpleasant.” 

“ What is unpleasant?” 

“Mv flowist made another howid mistake. I alwavs 
want a wose for my buttonhole on Tuesday evening. He 
sent me instead a fuschia and twimmings, and among the 


AN IRON CROWN. 43 

twimmings was a howid fish gewanium leaf. Now you 
know I cawn’t abide fish any way .’ 7 
“ Throw away the geranium leaf.” 

“Weally, this howid hot weathah has so unnerved me 
that I do not feel like twyitig to awange a bouquet.” 

u Going to see Luseba to-night, the reason you are so 
particular, Snicker?” 

“ Pon my wud now, Roker, that allusion is not quite 
genewous.” 

“ What’s up now?” 

“ That’s all ended,” replied Snicker, with a sigh as deep 
as his corset would allow. 

“ Another heart broken ?” 

“ Naw!” This particle of grammar intended for no was 
spoken in a prolonged drawling circumflex, as if paucity of 
ideas compelled him to fill the intervals between them with 
remarkable vocalization. He added lazily: “ Partnehship 
dissolved by mutual consent. One more experience.” 

Poor little creature! He said this as if he were trying 
to get through with all experiences, — that is, all proper for a 
gentleman of his cut, — and graduate into the indifferent man 
of the world as soon as possible, with nothing more to do, 
nothing more to learn, nothing more to enjoy, — only to be 
bored with resignation. Now Luseba Aplington was a 
young lady whose highly artificial accomplishments were as 
shallow as his own, else he had never discovered them. After 
a brief, sappy courtship, they plighted troth. But the course 
of true love will not run smooth though flowing in a golden 
channel. One evening, on the way to the opera, Miss Luseba 
confided a valuable opera-glass to the care of her Adonis. 
He, not feeling equal to assuming such a grave responsibility, 
intrusted it to the footman, which functionary lost it. It was 
a birthday present from a dear friend, and the young lady 
was inconsolable. The fact that Snicker himself remained 
hers failed to allay her unreasonable grief. A coolness arose. 
She returned his presents and his heart, in exchange for 
which organ she received her own again, neither but little 
the worse for wear, because, like shoes that have been worn, 
both had already had the squeak taken out of them by con- 
siderable indulgence in Cupid’s game of foot ball. To 
employ Snicker’s own resigned expression, “it was all over.” “ 
To jest with a man who had suffered such a poignant grief 
was cruel, and Roker dropped the subject. 


44 


AN IKON CROWN. 


Snicker’s companion, Horace Roker, was in everything 
his opposite. He was a tall, compactly-built, rather spare, 
dark-complexioned man. He was very straight, considering 
that he had labored for years at a desk in Ingledee’s office. 
His thin, Roman nose, prominent forehead, lowering brow, 
and lips almost painfully compressed, indicated inflexibility of 
purpose, combined with a dangerous temper disposed to cru- 
elty. His restless, piercing black eye seldom squarely met 
the eye of one with whom he conversed, unless at times 
when, as if conscious that the world views the conduct of 
such an eye with suspicion, it was capable of a steady, 
unflinching gaze, the defiance of a bold, unscrupulous spirit. 
He seldom showed his symmetrical white teeth through the 
medium of a smile; he was too politic to do- so with the 
snarl which was more natural to him. He never laughed 
heartily, partly because there was nothing generous in him, 
chiefly because it was in bad form. Dignity was a part of 
his stock in trade. He had one peculiarity which he seemed 
to be unconscious of, or which he was unable to control. By 
contraction of the muscles of the head he could draw his 
scalp down almost over his forehead. He did this while 
abstracted, or when in some way thrown suddenly out of his 
usual train of thought. Sometimes when angry this peculiar 
distortion took place. Combined with a flashing eye, blood- 
less, compressed lips, and a nose which seemed enduring 
painful tension, it gave his expression something really 
demoniac. 

Roker was a man with whom people instinctively avoid 
jesting. He was an affable, polished gentleman, who fulfilled 
with punctilious correctness the routine duties of society, and 
who was at all times scrupulously polite. His dress displayed 
none of the absurd fopperies of Snicker’s make up. On his 
immaculate shirt front sparkled a diamond pin, which was the 
sole article pertaining to his person that was worn distinctly 
as an ornament. 

From the remark u one more experience” it must not be 
inferred that Frederick Snicker admitted any gefiuine regrets 
over his lost love, or that the lady was conscious of any. To 
experience anything approaching a real human feeling or sen- 
timent would have been in the estimation of this sappy pair 
an exhibition of very bad taste. The flabby intellect which 
animated their mushy brains was incapable of such experi- 
ences. It might have been overwhelmed by some great dis- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


45 


aster just as the thieving little chipmunk is crushed by the 
dead fall. But it could no more realize that disaster or rise 
above it than could the flattened chipmunk crawl from be- 
neath the great cruel stone. 

As the conversation reached this point, Silas Ingledee 
sauntered into the room and joined Roker and Snicker. The 
young man had not lived so rapidly lately. He had not been 
out later than four o’clock in the morning for a whole week, 
and had been getting an extra hour’s sleep during the day. 
He was carefully dressed, as usual, and in consequence of such 
ascetic abstinence from pleasure, really looked a handsome 
young man. His fine face was a great contrast to that of 
either Snicker or Roker. Nature had done so much for him 
and so little for Snicker, and yet both their grists were prac- 
tically being ground in the same hopper, though Silas’s fine 
grain went through rapidly, while Snicker’s husky kernels 
danced on top from sheer lightness. Roker prudently pre- 
ferred to feed the hopper. 

“ Ah, how are you, Roker?” said Silas. 

“ Very well, thank you. How are you?” 

“Tiptop! How’s the office? Governor got any new 
deals on the string? Haven’t seen him for some time.” 

“ The office runs as usual, and your father’s operations are 
even heavier than usual.” 

“ He wants to rope me into that margin and ticker busi- 
ness. But I can find more congenial amusement than watch- 
ing rows of figures on a paper tape, that runs like clock work 
and never lets up. Hello, Snicker,” said he, as he turned to 
that }^oung gentleman, who, from appearances, was industri- 
ously trying to swallow the head of his cane. “ How are 
you ? ” 

“Well, I cawn’t weally say. A twifle misewable I think 
on the whole.” 

“Not in love again? Who is the charmer?” 

“ That’s abwupt, Ingledee,” said Snicker, with a feeble at- 
tempt at pretended offense. Abwiifit was the strongest piece 
of armor, offensive and defensive, in his verbal arsenal. He 
often objected to the manner of a disagreeable statement more 
than to the matter. It must not be abwupt, for to be abwupt 
was not in good form. 

“Pshaw! now don’t try to deny it; you know you are a 
lady-killer.” 

As the chief amusement of Fred Snicker was to fall in 


4 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


love, or attempt it, he admitted the soft impeachment by a 
flabby smile of acknowledgement. 

44 If you’d indulge a trifle more excitement you wouldn’t 
feel so miserable. Don’t you think so? Say an elopement, ora 
breach of promise. W ouldn’t that be about: the thing, Roker?” 
Roker added, u Or punch some rival’s head now and 
then,” in a tone which seemed to imply that Snicker was ca- 
pable of committing a blood-curdling murder by way of 
amusement. Snicker felt the compliment implied in the ad- 
mission that he was a man of the world. But one of the 
chief resources among his paltry stock of ideas was that of 
objecting to imaginary affronts which he conjured up for the 
sake of objection, well knowing no offense was meant. He 
acted as if he should have been flattered had they suggested a 
highway robbery, but as it was only a fisticuff he considered 
it common and 44 abwupt,” and so expressed himself. 

44 Gentlemen, I consider that abwupt. You know there 
are things that may be too abwupt to the feelings of a gen- 
tleman.” This statement was so obvious there was no gain- 
saying it. Silas, thinking perhaps he had for once really 
probed a tender spot, hastily explained: 

44 Beg pardon, Snicker. I meant no offence. But really, 
a little wholesome activity would set you all right. Don’t you 
think so, Roker?” 

44 Undoubtedly.” 

V 

44 1 make no suggestions, but think it over.” 

Had he been in the far West, Silas would doubtless have 
suggested the exciting pastime poetically known as 44 painting 
the town red.” As this species of advanced art, as applied to 
the evolution of amusement is unknown in New York, or 
known by a different name, Ingledee could only summarize 
by repeating 44 Think it over.” 

44 I will, I ngledee,” replied Snicker, who was now all good 
humor and no longer felt miserable. He felt that he was con- 
sidered a fast young man by the fastest young men in the town. 
Altogether he was a daring, reckless, possibly dangerous young 
blade. He suddenly remembered that he had an appointment, 
and with an adieu which approached the abwupt, he ambled 
out, twirling his absurd little cane. His companions bowed 
a pleasant good evening and then forgot Snicker as utterly as 
if he had never existed. 

After some desultory conversation Silas remarked, with 
his eyes fixed on Roker’s right hand: 


AN IRON CROWN. 


47 


“ By the way, Roker, I have often noticed a faint line 
across the backs of your lingers; excuse my curiosity, but is 
that a scar? ” 

“ There is a rather vivid incident of my boyhood con- 
nected with that scar, Ingledee.” 

“ Would you mind telling; it? I am curious now.” 

“ I have no objections,” replied Roker. Silas settled him- 
self in his chair to listen. 

“You know, Mr. Silas, that my parents were poor. 
Sometimes it was hard work and close saving to make both 
ends meet. Often we boys had to stay out of school for 
months to work. One term when I was about ten years old 
I wanted to join a class in grammar just starting in our school, 
and I was determined to join it. I was some years younger 
than most of the members, but I was determined to keep up 
with certain boys if I had to study half the night to do it. If 
I missed that class I should be thrown back possibly two 
years, and might lose my chance altogether of studying that 
subject in school. 

“ I teased my mother for the book, but she refused to get it 
because she could not afford the expense. But I gave them 
no peace at home; determined to carry my point. Finally 
mother told me that if father and I, my brother being 
away from home, would abstain from eating eggs till I saved 
the fifty cents necessary I might buy the book. It required 
four dozen, and we had few hens; I set about getting them. 
I watched the hens with the eye of a hawk, and whenever 
one cackled I was on hand to get the egg. 

“ One day I heard an old hen cackling loud up over an oats- 
bin in the little barn. I placed a peck measure on top of a 
barrel, climbed up and found to my delight a new nest with 
several eggs. I put them in my old slouch, wool hat, and 
gathered it together like a bag. I started to climb down 
again, but the bin was made by standing the boards on end 
instead of running them cross-wise. At the top was a wedge- 
shaped crack, and as I stepped on the peck measure it tilted. 
I lost my footing and my hand stuck in that crack. I 
dropped with my whole weight on those fingers, and there 
I hung. I thought every second they would pull off, but they 
didn’t.” 

U A pretty fix, wasn’t it? Then you dropped the eggs 
and yelled ? ” 

u I screamed at the top of my voice for help, but I held 


4 8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


on to the eggs with the left hand, though I might have clung 
to a projecting piece of scantling with it.” 

“ How did you get down? ” 

“ I hung there, it may have been three minutes, though I 
thought it an hour, till a neighbor, working in his garden 
across the alley, heard my screams for help and took me 
down.” 

“ And the eggs? ” 

“As soon as I saw they were safe, I fainted with the pain. 
That is all there is to that scar.” 

“ I hardly think I could do that to save a few cents.” 

“ Perhaps not. It is not necessary for you to do it.” 

“ Say, Roker, isn’t the Governor a little bit queer lately? ” 
Roker, as Mr. Ingledee’s private secretary, having risen 
little by little to the position of confidential adviser, had much 
better opportunities than the son for learning the state of his 
employer’s mind on subjects usually more or less confidential. 
He could have guessed, with tolerable assurance, whether the 
Governor was “queer” or not. But Roker was not given to 
guessing in cases like the present. 

“ What do you mean, Mr. Silas? ” He knew perfectly well 
what Mr. Silas -meant. He was an open well when it rained, 
but only a dry one, when others wanted water. His rule of 
life might be summed up briefly: Learn all you can of other 

people’s plans; disclose none of your own. 

“ He wants me to enter the office.” 

“ Oh, he mentioned that to me. I see nothing queer in 
- that.” 

“ What did you tell him?” 

“ I told him you were young, and there was plenty of 
time yet.” 

“ Thank you for that, Roker. I really can’t give up life 
yet.” The young man spoke in an earnest almost anxious 
manner as if he felt that giving up idle dissipation and going 
to work were equivalent to quitting life altogether. 

“No thanks are necessarv. I spoke from honest convic- 
tion.” 

“ Did father speak of anything further than the office? ” 

“ I hardly understand you.” As Mr. Ingledee had not 
spoken further, Roker hoped to learn from the son what the 
father did not choose to disclose. 

“ In fact, he thinks I’m going a little too fast.” 

“ Young men are expected to see life.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


49 


“ But father declines to look at it that way. Would you 
mind toning the thing down a little to him if he speaks to 
you about it? He would sit on me if he knew half.” 

“ I shall be happy to do anything in that direction that I 
can, but then,” he added deprecatingly, “ you know I’m only 
an employe and a stranger.” 

“ Father has every confidence in you. What you say will 
go a long way with him.” 

“Ah, indeed! All right, Mr. Silas, you may rely on me.” 
“ Thank you. Now will you go and take some wine? ” 

“ No, thanks. You know I seldom indulge.” 

“ What do you say to a glass of absinthe? It is a very 
nice drink, Roker.” 

“ Thank you; its effects are rather lasting for office work. 
You have plenty of time for such things.” 

“ Really, Roker, what sort of a man are you? You never 
seem to care for anything.” 

“ Oh, I have my quiet tastes.” 

“ Silas suddenly rose to take his departure. “ I am ex- 
pected at Chrysolite’s ball,” he remarked, “ and must be go- 
mg. 

“ Good-bye.” 

“ Good-bye.” 

“Poor fool!” mused Roker, as his companion disappeared. 
“Absinthe, wine, dancing, loss of sleep, carousals. A few years 
will end him.” Pulling a choice Havana from his cigar-case, 
he proceeded to indulge one of his “quiet tastes.” 

Members of the club came and went; still Horace Roker 
smoked on. No one disturbed him, for he was in a reverie, 
and his friends knew at such times it was very unprofitable 
work trying to engage him in conversation. In reply to greet- 
ings, he nodded mechanically and still puffed airy clouds of 
smoke that were as light as his own visions. In these float- 
ing clouds he constructed magnificent castles. He saw a 
princely residence, and a handsome dark-eyed woman pre- 
siding over it. He sailed the fastest yacht on the seas; he 
drove the fastest team on the island. He entertained in regal 
style persons whose incomes exceeded those of princes. He 
bought railroads, as he would have bought pine-apples for 
his table. 

He smoked on while people came and went till the stream 
gradually subsided, and then ceased. His vision had taken 
more definite shape than ever before. It was so pleasing that 


4 


5 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


he indulged it longer than usual, as we often indulge some 
favorite pleasure on certain occasions to make amends for past 
denial. 

After midnight Mr. Roker aroused himself and started 
home. He trod with a light step. The absorbing hope of 
-his life which he had heretofore restrained with tight reinvest 
it carry him away into the regions of a mere dreamer, now 
bid fair to be realized. 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE HONORABLE DAVE SAWDER. 

Among the friends to whom Tom Nor well wished to in- 
troduce Arthur was Austin Hickley, a young lawyer rapidly 
rising into note. Tom and Hickley were intimate friends, 
though the latter was the senior of the former by several 
years. Hickley had come to New York a poor young man 
from a country town. He was thoroughly well read in law, 
and by means of family influence succeeded in entering the 
offices of a well-known law firm, though in a very humble 
capacity. His work at first was wholly clerical, and not very 
remunerative. Step by step he advanced, however, until he 
was admitted to a partnership. One of the senior partners 
died some years later, and the other resigned practice to ac- 
cept a position on the bench. Thus Hickley at the age of 
thirty-five found himself in exclusive possession of a good 
business, and wielding no inconsiderable local influence. 

One afternoon Arthur Wilson, Tom Nor well and Hickley 
sat conversing in the private office of the latter. It was late 
in the day, which was a very dark, disagreeable one, and no 
clients were liable to interrupt them. Wilson gradually 
turned the conversation toward the one subject of most inter- 
est to himself — his finding something to do. Mr. Norwell 
had vainly inquired among his former business acquaintances 
with a view to securing a situation for the son of his old 
friend. Good situations do not go begging amid the fierce 
competition of a great city, where there are usually fifty men 
seeking each really desirable position. In one place he could 
have obtained a situation at a fair salary had he been an ex- 


AN IRON CROWN 


5 1 


perienced salesman, in another a book-keeper was wanted, 
but experience was required, and so on through the list. He 
could find plenty of places where the opportunity of handling 
heavy boxes was extended at the rate of six dollars, or there- 
abouts, per week. He began to realize that distance did really 
lend enchantment to cities. The fact was, that while possess- 
ing a good education in the common acceptation of the term, 
he knew how to do no one thing well. If he began here at 
all he must begin at the very bottom, which will do for a 
boy but not for a man. 

Arthur Wilson was not easily discouraged, neither did he 
have the over confident hope born of inexperience and igno- 
rance. He felt that something must soon be done, and his 
chances were poor. His board and lodging were provided 
for so long as he chose to remain with the Norwells. He 
had calculated that these were the chief, indeed, almost the 
entire expenses incident to city life. He learned there were a 
thousand and one ways of spending money which he had 
never suspected. Tom was generous and could afford it. 
Arthur was generous and could not afford it. He insisted on 
paying at least part of the time, hence their seeing the town, 
though they did nothing extravagant, had cost considerable 
money, and Arthur’s slender stock was melting with a 
rapidity which gave him no little secret anxiety. 

“ I trust we may be able to do something for you,” said 
Hickley. 

“ Your tone is not one of confidence,” replied Arthur. 
u To tell the truth, I am not confident. Everything here 
is full to overflowing.” 

“ Yet you came here a poor boy and did well,” interjected 
Tom. u Father came here a poor boy and did well. Have 
not hundreds of others done the same thing? ” 

“ Yes, thousands, for that matter, but look at the thousands 
who are still struggling with abject, hopeless poverty, sinking 
instead of rising. Sinking, because the best days of their life 
are passing, and the day is coming when they can no longer 
earn the pittance they now get.” 

“ Perhaps they do not save,” suggested Wilson. 
u Some do not, some can not. Boys, Til tell you a little 
of my own experience in saving. Near the end of my first 
year in New York, when I felt that a new suit of clothes was 
a grim necessity in the near future, this was my bill of fare for 
several months : A cup of coffee and a roll at a cheap little cof- 


5 3 


AN IRON CROWN. 


fee-house, for breakfast, ten cents; a bowl of soup for dinner, 
ten cents; three oatmeal crackers and a handful of raisins in 
my own little room for supper, five cents; total, twenty-five 
cents per day.” The two listeners stared at Hickley in silent 
amazement. 

“ Here a man must undergo a long and arduous course of 
hard, unremitting labor and pinching economy to arrive at a 
competence. When he has reached that enviable condition 
he suddenly realizes that a mere competence, as a rule, en- 
titles its possessor to very little social consideration in a great 
city. Rather than such a state of affairs I should prefer to 
stay in the country. I’d eat boiled beef and cabbage, and be 
a person of some importance in the community.” 

u Hard work and economy,” replied Wilson, “ have done 
well in your case. I would willingly do the same to accom- 
plish the same results.” 

“ Thev did not do all. I know men who have worked 
*/ 

harder and have nothing. A man may dig a ditch to the foot 
of fame’s ladder, but he can not dig ditches and mount. Death 
removed one of my partners very opportunely for me. Po- 
litical preferment removed the other. Such accidents seldom 
happen.” 

u Hang it, Hickley, what are you talking about? You 
wouldn’t live on a farm and toil fifteen hours a day, sleep 
seven, eat one, read none, sing none, and visit twice a year on 
Sundays. Compared with such an existence the life of an 
oyster is really exciting.” 

“ I admit there are numerous social and intellectual ad- 
vantages to be found in the city, but at least a moderate amount 
of money is required to obtain access to them.” 

Tom laughed heartily. “Confound it, stop your croak- 
ing, Hickley. You’d give a mummy the blues. I’ll never 
bring a friend here again for consolation. I might have 
known better than to go to a law shop for that article, where 
no fee pertained to the case. We’ll get Wilson a fat job 
yet.” 

It was a trait of Tom Norwell’s never to turn any one 
away with a bad story. He always chose the bright side of 
everything instinctively. Perhaps this was because he had 
never seen any dark side, and had doubts of its existence. 
From the confidence expressed in Tom’s tone, the “fat job” 
might have been already under lock and key and the key in his 
pocket. Hickley was silent. There was no resisting the spon- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


53 


taniety of Norwell’s nature, in spite of the fact that prudence 
plainly said he was too sanguine. They were interrupted by a 
knock at the door, on opening which, the office boy showed in 
the Honorable David Sawder. 

The Honorable David Sawder, familiarly known simply 
as Dave Sawder, desired a private interview. He and Hick- 
ley at once retired to another room and carefully closed the 
connecting doors. What transpired there is of great impor- 
tance, and the author must claim an author’s privilege of un- 
derstanding it all. The Honorable David Sawder was a pol- 
itician of national reputation. He had for many years rep- 
resented a New York district in Congress. He was a large, 
plethoric, well-fed man, nearly six feet in height. He had a 
blonde complexion and a heavy blonde mustache. His sen- 
sual mouth and coarse, meaty nose marred a face otherwise 
well proportioned, and indicating, as the accompaniment of an 
unusually well-developed head, the possession of no common 
powers, both physical and mental. His restless gray eye was 
as quick as the eye of an eagle, and read men at a glance. He 
had a large muscular hand and enormous feet, which he moved 
in walking, when not conscious of observation, with a pecu- 
liar pulling motion indescribably comical. 

On public occasions, when conscious of that organ known 
as the public eye, to which unusual powers of vision are at- 
tributed with perhaps very small reason, Sawder’s movements 
were more dignified and always incisive. His efforts to ap- 
pear graceful were, however, in a measure futile, for his bear- 
ing and gestures indicated power rather than grace or beauty. 
He had that hearty, cordial manner which is so necessary a 
part of the politician’s stock in trade. It made him very pop- 
ular with the masses, combined as it was with the faculty 
equally necessary to his craft, of knowing at sight, which will 
prove the popular side of a question. He nurtured another 
acrobatic feat in a high degree of perfection, which was 
known as “flopping,” if inadvertently he dropped on the 
wrong side. However, he nearly always found himself on 
the popular side at first. This power of discernment in him 
amounted almost to intuition. 

Back of all his easy, matter-of-fact cordiality, which was 
made the most of, the keen student of human nature might 
have observed in the Honorable Dave something that was to 
be distrusted, or which, at least, would bear watching. The 
keen eye was a trifle too restless. It lacked the appearance of 


54 


AN IRON CROWN. 


honest, kindly candor which is one of the most beautiful ema- 
nations of that most expressive organ. His mouth had an 
animal, selfish appearance. It had so long fed on the public 
plums that it seemed to have acquired a chronic condition of 
watering for them. This impression was confirmed by an oc- 
casional movement of the watery-looking lips which very 
much resembled that vulgarly known as “ licking the chops.” 
The real cause of this peculiarity was a slight disease of the 
salivary glands induced by the habit of full feeding. He was 
well dressed in plain black, and w T ore on one of the fingers of 
his left hand a massive plain gold ring. He wore a heavy 
gold watch and chain. From the latter dangled a large charm 
with a seal. 

The Honorable Dave began abruptly: 

“ What is the outlook in your ward, Hickley ? ” 
u Good, I think. There is little doubt of our carrying it 
for the whole ticket by a handsome majority.” 

“ What have you done?” 

“Held several meetings and distributed a cord of docu- 
ments more or less. We have organized the young men into 
a marching club, provided with uniforms and torches. They 
parade twice a week.” 

“ All well enough in its way, but what practical work has 
been done ? ” 

“ Don’t you call that practical ? ” 

“ Certainly, but there is something more necessary. You 
must see every doubtful voter and bring unanswerable argu- 
ments to bear on him.” 

“ What if he persists in bolting after you have seen him?” 
“ Then he must be seen again by a reliable man.” 

“Mr. Sawder, the duties of my profession are very exacting.” 
“ You are chairman of the district executive committee, 
and it is expected of you to see this work done. I do not 
mean that you shall make a personal canvass.” 

“ I see little use in argument. Seeing a man once is as 
good as seeing him twice to my notion. Besides, I am not 
running for office.” 

“ 1 am , Hickley, which amounts to the same thing. But 
you needn’t waste time with men who are always doubtful. 
See them finally on election day. They have an eye to the 
convincing argument.” 

o o 

“ I hardly understand your reference to the convincing ar- 
gument, Sawder.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


55 


The Honorable Dave stared at Hickley for a moment with 
incredulous wonder. “ Is it possible that you have dab- 
bled in politics for years, and particularly in New York pol- 
itics, and do not understand what is meant by seeing a man. 
You are a rising lawyer, too! Oh, I know better than that.” 
And he laughed as if it were really a good joke. 

“Know better than what?” asked Hickley, with a trifle 
of warmth. Then the truth began to dawn on him. “If 
you mean that we must stoop to buying votes I must inform 
you that I value my reputation too highly to descend to such 
depths of degradation.” 

“ Now, don’t be hasty, Hickley. Look at the matter in a 
sensible light. I don’t ask you to peddle greenbacks person- 
ally. Find the men to do it. You have received many favors 
from our party indirectly.” 

“ And have done a great deal for the party. But I do not 
care to become a professional politician. I have no ambition 
at all in that direction.” He said this with covert sarcasm, 
which intimated that the professional politician was, to use a 
favorite rustic simile, rather small potatoes. The Honorable 
Dave Sawder discerned Hickley’s attitude at a glance. But 
he was too politic to show anger. He reserved all his right- 
eous indignation for the other side of the House in Congress. 
There his patriotism was forever on tap and effervesced in a 
perennial stream of brilliant, though at times somewhat windy 
oratory. He replied : “ Hickley, you are a young man yet.” 

As Hickley had reached the years when youth is gone 
forever, and the time was rapidly approaching when he could 
no longer, except by gross and palpable flattery, be called a 
young man, he silently acquiesced in the sentiment. He had 
reached the beginning of that debatable period, when one is 
not claimed very heartily by the young folks, and is unwill- 
ing to surrender gracefully and take a position with the sober, 
middle-aged contingent of society. Hickley was willing to be 
a young man if it didn’t cost too much, and Sawder knew it. 
At fifteen he would perhaps have been a young man at any 
cost. Everything, however, with which the Hon. Dave 
Sawder was connected, was pretty sure to cost somebody 
something in the end. He continued: “Hickley, at your 

time of life many a man has ruined his prospects by enter- 
taining fastidious notions. You can’t afford it. Mr. Ophir 
has put a great deal of railroad business into the hands of 
your firm, and is doing the same for you. He put your sur- 


56 


AN IRON CROWN. 


viving partner on the bench, and left you at the head of a fine 
business.” 

This was a very frank admission on the part of Sawder, 
and one that he would not have made publicly. It is a com- 
parative innovation for railroads to make judges of the higher 
courts. Their making United States Senators has ceased to 
attract attention, if it ever did. As to making Congressmen 
and members of State Legislatures, that is not worth the 
trouble. They can be bought ready-made much cheaper, like 
slop-shop clothing, especially when they are marketed in 
job lots. Hickley was silent, and the Honorable Dave con- 
tinued: “ Ophir is. friendly toward you, and you know his 
influence is worth having. Besides, you must not forget past 
favors. Now Mr. Ophir particularly desires that Barkwell 
and myself should be re-elected to Congress, so that in case 
the new bill relating to the Continental and Pacific does not 
get through the coming session, there will be experienced 
men to take care of it in the future.” 

u Whv, Barkwell belongs to the other party.” 

“That makes no difference. He is sound for the C. & P. 

S R. R., and his opponent isn’t. Ophir’s motto is, 4 Votes first, 
party afterward.’ ” 

“ I’m perfectly willing to work and make speeches, but I 
decline to handle any money . 55 

“ Oh, that’s all right. Find men to do it. This requires 
fine work.” 

“ So I perceive.” 

“ There is another feature of the work that must not be 
neglected. The other party are straining every nerve, and 
intend to run in a lot of fraudulent voters. We must head 
them off wherever our side is in a good working majority.” 
“ By working similar tactics?” 

“ Well, that’s about it. The only weapon to fight the 
devil with is fire. The other party have been doing it for 
years. Now we will give them a dose of their own 
medicine.” 

“ Mr. Sawder, I decline to be a party to such methods.” 

If all politicians made and rigidly adhered to a similar 
resolution, there would be inaugurated a millennium of polit- 
ical purity which only the most visionary theorist may hope 
to see. The greatest political crime possible in a republic, — 
worse, in fact, than open rebellion, — is that of corrupting the 
ballot. Yet here was a so-called statesman who counte- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


57 


nanced it because it was apparently the most effective way of 
combating a thoroughly unscrupulous opposition. Here was 
the further spectacle of a lawyer in good standing whose 
chief apparent objection to this great political crime was the 
very negative one that he did not wish to be known as coun- 
tenancing such things. God forbid that this monster of polit- 
ical corruption should ever crawl from his slimy den in our 
great cities to fasten on the honest rural districts. When he 
does so unrebuked, the grandest experiment ever tried, of 
government by the people and for the people, will be recorded 
in the book of time as a failure. The weeping genius of 
liberty, with heavy heart and eye that fondly dwells on his- 
tory’s brightest page, will sadly close forever the record of 
the last republic, and man’s greatest opportunity is lost till 
the cycles of time shall change the very face of civilization 
itself. 

“ You are not expected to take any part in that portion of 
the work. It might be well for you to know something 
about it, so that you will thoroughly understand the bearings 
of the canvass. Dyke, Miller and Williams will be the active 
workers.” It may be added that the three worthies referred 
to were well known as unsavory pot-house politicians, who 
derived their chief support from the tolerably constant supply 
of dirty political work, 4 — national, state, county or municipal. 
One of them was brother to an alderman, which was in itself 
a great political capital. Another was cousin to a city official 
of high position, and a third possessed in a marked degree 
the indispensable faculty of enthusing the “boys.” 

Hickley quietly remarked : “I’ve heard of those gentle- 
men. I understand their methods are very effective.” 

“Very! We are lucky in winning them to our side. 
Some years ago they were against us, you know.” The 
H on. Dave’s very narrow majority at the time alluded to 
attested the efficacy of their methods. 

“ By the way, let’s go down and see Ophir. There are some 
matters of finance connected with the campaign fund which 
had better be attended to.” Hickley, seeing further demur 
not only useless but impolitic, bade his friends good-day, and 
started with Sawder to Ophir’s office. It was late, and that 
great man was just putting on his coat preparatory to going 
home to dinner. 

“ How are you, Sawder? Glad to see you. Everything 
going favorably?” 


AN IRON CROWN. 



“ Yes, I feel very confident.” 

“How are you, Mr. Hickley? I’ve not had the pleasure 
of seeing you lately.” 

“ I’m quite well, thank you. Hope you are the same.” 

“We came down to mention one or two points connected 
with the canvass.” 

“ I’m at your service. Have seats, gentlemen.” 

a I’ve been talking with Mr. Hickley here,” continued the 
Hon. Dave, “ and we agree that the campaign must be an 
aggressive one.” 

“ Take them by surprise. That’s the way to do it,” 
replied Ophir. 

“ I have talked with Hickley, and we have about agreed 
on what is to be done.” At this juncture Sawder managed 
to catch Ophir’s eye, while the lawyer happened to look 
toward the model of the yacht above the desk. 

“ You and Hickley never do anything by halves. I think 
the party can always rely on you. You are both on the road 
to preferment yourselves, you know, and the speed you 
make depends chiefly on your own exertions. You can’t 
afford to be lukewarm.” 

44 Certainly not,” replied Hickley. 

That gentleman now felt decidedly uncomfortable. He 
was a man of intelligence and refinement. Heretofore he 
had succeeded in preserving his honor. Now in the brief 
space of an hour a great crisis had come upon him. He felt 
that he was completely in the power of these two men, even 
though he were a rising and highly successful lawyer. There 
was no denying that he was largely indebted to Ophir for his 
success. To hold back now would seem base ingratitude, — 
furthermore, it would be ruin. Somebody else would do 
the work and reap the reward if he refused. The things 
demanded were wrong and dishonorable, but they were an 
evil of the times not of his making. If a great free people 
were willing to have their rights trampled under foot, they 
did not deserve to be free. Besides, he conscientiously believed 
the party they were fighting was much worse than his own. 
He would do the work. If it soiled his hands a little, he 
would profit by it sufficiently to be able to buy gloves for the 
rest of his life. Sawder knew perfectly well that Hickley 
would not dare to refuse in Ophir’s presence to do this 
degrading work. He had no object in calling upon the rail- 
way magnate but to rivet more firmly the fetters on the law- 


AN IRON CROWN. 59 

yer’s conscience. However, he remarked, as a pretense of 
business : 

U A11 these things cost something, Mr. Ophir.” 

“To be sure, Mr. Sawder. I have to-day handed my 
check for fifty thousand dollars to the executive committee. 
I’ll duplicate that sum, if necessary.” 

u W e’ll make it warm for them.” 

With this remark the conference adjourned. But the Hon. 
Dave was not yet done with Hickley. While he had him in 
training he might as well pilot him to Sandy Miller’s saloon, 
in Jamaica street, and introduce him to that shining light in 
local politics. He felt sure of Hickley, but it was just as well 
to get him so thoroughly into the work that there could be no 
backing out. He steered Hickley, as if by chance, into the 
street where this famous resort was situated, and on passing 
the door suddenly remembered that he wished to see a man 
inside. That man was the celebrated Sandy Miller himself, 
to whom Hickley was duly introduced. 

Sandy Miller was a raw-boned, heavy man, of powerful 
johysique. He had the jaw of a bulldog, and a short, turned- 
up nose, whose uncouth shape and proportions could only re- 
mind one of a hippopotamus in miniature. He had a power- 
ful arm, with muscles like iron. On the latter useful member 
his bread had more than once depended, in a sense different 
from the scriptural reference to sweat of the face. He had 
once been a professor of the manly art offensive and de- 
fensive. On different occasions he had put his skill to very 
practical account by entering the ring, where, after knocking 
out several representatives of high art in this line, he was him- 
self beautifully knocked out by another u Professor,” whose 
jaw was a trifle squarer, chest a little deeper, and fist a little 
more nearly approaching the proportions of the hammer of 
a pile driver. The police had been unusually vigilant on this 
last occasion. In consequence, Sandy not only got a good 
drubbing, but six months in the Tombs as well. Here he ac- 
quired a taste for public life. 

On his release he combined the business of liquor selling 
with that of practical politics. In the latter capacity he 
u fixed ” primaries, organized repeaters, and engaged in ballot- 
box stuffing when more specious methods failed. He made 
money, built a fine house, and once actually had an eye on 
good society. But he found the proprieties which hedge 
the social shrine much more difficult to be thrust aside than 


6o 


AN IRON CROWN. 


the defences of the ballot box. On the present occasion 
Sandy’s very red hair was carefully combed and pasted until 
it was as smooth as the nose of a fish. His glowing, beefy 
face shone like the setting sun of Indian summer. A large dia- 
mond sparkled on his shirt front. He was happy, for an 
election was at hand, which meant a thriving business in the 
sale of drink, to say nothing of the more practical part of the 
canvass. 

Hickley was introduced, and the trio adjourned to a back 
room, the Hon. Dave briefly remarking something to a bar- 
tender as they passed. This remark apparently resulted in 
hot whisky punches, for these popular beverages appeared on 
the table in a very brief space of time. Talking politics be- 
came a comparatively cheerful occupation under the stimulat- 
ing* influences of the last named auxiliaries. Sawder re- 

o 

marked : 

“Hickley is chairman of your ward committee, as you 
know, Mr. Miller.” 

Sandy made a cordial but very angular bow in acknowl- 
edgement of Hickley’s acquaintance and position, saying he 
was “ happy to know Mr. Hickley.” Hickley murmured 
something in reply about having frequently heard of Mr. 
Miller. The latter end of his remark was rather indistinct, 
but Miller charitably construed it to mean something like 
u The pleasure is mutual, sir,” and bowed again. 

Hickley was anything but happy. He felt that he had 
been duped, and forced into a disreputable situation. He dis- 
liked these men and loathed their methods. He had no par- 
ticular objection to an occasional social glass, but here he sat 
in a dram-shop, engaged in what looked very like guzzling 
liquor for the love of it. Sawder was celebrated for his 
ability to coax, wheedle, or whip kickers into the party 
traces. Hickley’s secret indignation was at white heat. 
He imagined that Sawder was gloating quietly over his vic- 
tory, whereas the latter really indulged no such sentiment 
toward him. Hickley felt very much like the man who is 
persuaded at the point of a shot gun. There is this advantage, 
however, in favor of the man who is compelled against his 
will by threats of personal violence. When the danger is 
removed he may then conscientiously forswear his promises. 
The hen compelled to set, will sit standing. But Hickley had 
no such refuge. The influences which threatened now to 
take away his business and blight his prospects would exist as 


AN IRON CROWN. 


6 I 

a clog to his freedom in the future. Quick as a flash he real- 
ized all this, and felt that sulking was the worst possible 
course. He would assume the good humor his companions 
felt. Sandy’s tongue was loosened a little under the in- 
fluences of a whisky punch. He remarked with a coarse 
laugh : 

“ Sawder, how did you like the primaries this year?” 

“They were well managed.” 

“ We voted nearly one hundred men from Mrs. Whiff’s 
boarding house,” Sandy added, laughing again heartily. 

“Ah! Indeed?” 

“ Now, would you like to know how many men really 
board there?” 

Sawder looked a little uncomfortable, as if statistics on 
such matters were irrelevant. This was a matter best not to 
be mentioned, even to the man who profited most by it. 
Sandy, not noticing Sawder’s uneasiness, added, “Just three 
men and two boys.” 

The election referred to was a primary . In these pri- 
maries are selected the delegates who nominate candidates for 
all important offices. Thus do the American people imagine 
that they select their own candidates, and loyal to their party, 
they conclude the farce by voting for men whom they really 
had no more voice in selecting than did the people of Canada. 
In justice to Sawder it must be said that he had time and 
again been elected fairly. Lately, however, there was dis- 
sension among his own followers, and hints as to spots on his 
record. There was increasing confidence on the part of the 
opposition. He had tasted the sweets of office and influence 
too long to resign them without a desperate struggle, and 
next thing to being elected fairly was to be elected at all. 
Sandy Miller was a convert from the opposition, where he 
had frequently worked the practical part of the machine. 
He brought these tactics into the camp of his friends in a high 
state of perfection. The “boys” still followed him. Sandy 
continued, confidentially, “ I’ve two men who are daisies, I 
tell you. I introduced you to them, you know, Barney Dyke 
and Pewter Williams.” 

“ 1 remember them,” said Sawder. The Pewter Williams 
referred to had been suspected by the police of nearly every 
crime in the calendar, but had never been detected in anything 
more serious than participating in a drunken row in which he 
nearly killed a man. Barney Dyke was a loafer without vis- 


62 


AN IRON CROWN. 


ible means of support, except the earnings of a hard-working 
wife. He drank heavily, gambled in a small way when he 
had any money, which was not often, and was generally dis- 
reputable. He had never been detected in anything worse 
than beating the unfortunate woman who unaccountably mar- 
ried such a brute. For this pastime he got fifty days and a 
chance to get sober. 

u Dyke will look after the registering. There’s one lodg- 
ing-house where we’ve twenty men from Jersey already.” 

“ Particulars are unnecessary,” said Sawder uneasily. He 
feared that such degrading revalations might thoroughly dis- 
gust Hickley, who, if he determined on bolting the machine, 
could cause a very disagreeable party rumpus. He wished 
the subject changed. To his mind, buying legal votes for 
spot cash was a much safer and more genteel method than col- 
onizing ruffians. 

u I was only explainin’, so that you would know as things 
was goin’ on all right. Williams will look after the chal- 
lengers.” 

The challenging department deserves a few words of ex- 
planation. Sawder’s party had never worked it successfully. 
It had flourished under the opposition, led by a celebrated 
“ Boss.” The polls, as far as possible, were located in filthy 
alleys or inconvenient places. Around them on election day 
gathered a lot of the dirtiest, foul-smelling reprobates which 
the slums of a great city afford. The challenger stood by the 
polls and caused as much delay as possible by challenging in- 
discriminately and asking needless questions. The judges, 
notoriously incompetent, to say the least, greatly facilitated 
this operation by asking stupid questions of their own. As 
many of the disreputable “ gang ” as could well do so kept 
constantly in line and delayed the voting, so that many of the 
respectable element, who were obliged to work all day, could 
not get in their votes at night. As the shades of a dark No- 
vember afternoon set in the mob virtually took possession of 
the narrow alley and “jostled ” timid voters often, frighten- 
ing them away entirely. A more determined voter was 
sometimes quietly knocked down and then arrested for creat- 
ing a disturbance. To accomplish this, a subservient con- 
stabulary was necessary, and these could always be secured 
under cover of law by the dominant party. This plan by 
which Sawder’s part}' now proposed to fight the enemy, 
could not be worked in the a silk stocking” precincts. Such 


AN IRON CROWN. 


6 3 


is the farce too often enacted in our great cities and called an 

o 

election. Can men who use dishonest means to obtain office, 
be expected to be honest in office? 

Sawder evidently thought the object of the interview had 
been accomplished. He rose, remarking: 44 When you need 
pecuniary stimulus, call on Mr. Hickley,” shook Sandy’s 
hand cordially, led the way from the room, and sauntered up 
street, arm in arm with Hickley. 


CHAPTER VII. 

VERY HIGH SOCIETY. 

Fifth Avenue had for sometime been in a state of breathless 
suspense. Society in the habitat of the nabob was agitated 
from its profoundest depths (the word depth is used figura- 
tively, for nothing there could be low ) to its dizziest pinnacles. 
Coming events are said to cast their shadows before, but this 
great event instead of a shadow cast such a brilliant glare of 
light in advance of it that all similar illuminations cast only 
shadows in the pervading splendor. A great ball was about 
to be given by the Ingledees on a scale that would astonish 
the aristocratic 44 old families.” The newspapers and society 
journals talked of the event daily by the column, and inti- 
mated that the upheaval about to take place would agitate 
the upper crust of society, as it was never stirred before. 
Everybody, that is everybody who 44 pretended to be any- 
thing,” including some thousands out of a million people, was 
anxiously expecting tickets, and some were going wild at the 
thought that the Ingledees would have to draw the line some- 
where, and might draw it before their names. 

Elderly matrons who had witnessed a hundred similar 
events posed before plate mirrors anxiously, to see how such 
slight frayings and furrowings as time had made inevitable 
in their charms, could be most thoroughly concealed. As a 
good story lies half in the telling so a woman’s beauty is half 
in the exhibit, a fact which these ladies of uncertain years had 
learned long ago. The young belles of one or two seasons’ 
experience, and the timid things about to essay the dizzy so- 
ciety whirl for the first time, were in a state of excitement lit- 


6 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


tie short of lunacy. They consulted, chattered, and planned 
their beautiful adornments to set off each personal charm, giv- 
ing as much thought to the subject as does the jeweler who 
is intrusted with the setting of a rare gem. Young and old 
alike drove incessantly hither and thither in their fine car- 
riages, stopping at fashionable emporiums where the ravish- 
ing loveliness of the costly fabrics for sale would have driven 
a fairy, who is supposed to have all these things at command, 
wild with jealousy. The capricious creatures talked unceas- 
ingly to each other and to their counselors, pirouetted, 
selected and rejected until a male spectator compelled to listen 
to all this chatter, and attempt to understand it, would have 
certainly gone distracted. 

Meanwhile the very young male devotee of fashion was 
placed in no enviable situation. The cruel decrees of custom 
prevented him from expending his pent-up feelings on ob- 
jects similar to the thousand and one incomprehensible and 
mysterious trifles of the female toilet. He could strut like a 
peacock before his glass and study killing attitudes, thus in 
anticipation ensnaring the heart of the unwary female whom 
he expected to circle gradually nearer his irresistible charms 
as the helpless little bird flutters to its doom under the spell 
of the serpent. He might also puzzle his somewhat easily- 
confused brains over the pattern of a waistcoat or the hair- 
breadth nicety with which a handkerchief might properly 
protrude from a side pocket. 

Mr. Fred Snicker had one very dear source of solicitude 
which kept him alternating between feverish hope and chill 
despair. He gave a great deal of attention to the aggravat- 
ingly slow growth of his embyro mustache, a growth which 
seemed to be retarded rather than accelerated by the very 
liberal tillage bestowed upon it in the way of irrigation by 
tonics, microscopic primings and homeopathic brushings. 
These anxious attentions were as absurd as an attempt to 
slaughter a flea with a Gatling gun, — -plenty of murder but lit- 
tle victim. The elderly-male member of society was undis- 
turbed by this abnormal commotion around him, except when 
the current of his thoughts was diverted by the perusal of an 
apparently interminable bill from the dressmaker or milliner. 

The Ingledee residence for several days before the event 
was taken possession of by an army of decorators. As an ex- 
ample of the lavishness with which the embellishment was 
conducted, one large saloon was literally covered with 


AN IKON CROWN. 


65 


thousands of jacqueminot roses which cost fifty cents apiece. 
Then came the caterer’s men who brought wagon loads of 
glass and dishes, and turned the house into a vast crockery 
emporium. Idlers hung around the place, watching these 
movements with a curiosity akin to that which would have 
been exhibited, had a murder been committed there. 

On the eventful evening in question the Ingledee palace, 
if so it may be termed without offense to republican readers, 
was brilliantly lighted from basement to attic. A lofty awn- 
ing of red-and-white striped silk stretched from the door to 
the street. The steps were covered with carpet fit for the 
boudoir of a queen. Servants in gorgeous livery were in 
ittendance, and two fine-looking policemen in shining new * 
miforms, buttoned and gloved to statuesque proportions, 
itood silently on the sidewalk to prevent vulgar eyes from, 
gazing too curiously on these sacred preparations, or vulgar 
feet from approaching too closely the holy ground conse- 
crated to snobbery. In the street were the struggling mob 
and long lines of carriages. Beautiful pages in gorgeous 
liveries flitted here and there, assisting fine ladies who swept 
like duchesses through the broad entrance, with rustling trains 
of richest silks and satins. 

Inside, the air was heavy with the perfume of flowers. 
There were flowers everywhere, — in vases, in garlands over 
the doorways, in festoons from the ceilings, and on entering 
the drawing rooms and ball room, every guest was presented 
with a dainty bouquet of exotics. These beautiful trifles cost 
Mr. I ngledee several dollars each, as afterward duly appeared 
in the papers. They were comparatively modest display lines 
in this stupendous advertisement. 

The “ charming young hostess,” Miss Chetta Ingledee, 
was u assisted ” by her very dear friend, Miss Harrie Snicker, 
daughter of Amaziah Snicker, who had once scooped a mil- 
lion out of sugar. Miss Ingledee’s exquisite dress was of the 
richest white satin trimmed with seed pearls. She wore no 
jewelry beyond a small gold locket which had been her 
mother’s, and a pair of link gold bracelets, set with a single 
pendent diamond. She wore flowers on her bosom and in her 
dark hair. Her dress became her well, and she had tne 
bearing of a queen. Miss Harrie Snicker was dressed in 
cream satin trimmed in yellow lace. Her train was of the 
most ample and unmanageable proportions. The general 
effect of this dress placed on such inadequate femininity was 

5 


66 


AN IRON CROWN. 


similar to what might be expected if a blanket were attached 
to a boy’s kite as a tail. Harrie Snicker, though perhaps a 
trifle above medium height, was utterly devoid of that com- 
manding presence so necessary to the finely dressed lady. 
Harrie had the same insignificant, retreating chin of her 
brother, though less exaggerated. She had the same little, 
insignificant, turn-up nose, the same vacuous expression of 
countenance, though any one seeing Fred Snicker would 
have declared that nature could not duplicate his visage. 

But nature, with all her infinite resources and that variety 
which is a constant miracle, still works after a definite plan 
by definite forms. The apparently impossible differences 
which may exist in so small a compass as the human counte- 
nance, and which render millions of faces distinguishable at a 
glance, is to me as great a mystery as life itself. Yet Nature 
has never made anything which she is not liable to reproduce 
almost to a line in some totally unexpected way. 

In Miss Snicker’s own opinion she was the peer of the 
beautiful hostess. The noisy cat bird with its jerky tail may 
be the peer of the stately swan in some respects, but cer- 
tainly not in grace or dignity. Harrie had pretty white 
shoulders, which were displayed so as to make the most of 
them. Diamonds sparkled in her yellow hair, and a pearl 
necklace encircled her neck. On her arms were bracelets of 
exquisite workmanship. 

Miss Bullion was radiant in white tulle embroidered with 
gold. On her person was one hundred thousand dollars’ 
worth of diamonds. Miss Cypher wore white lace over 
white silk. Mrs. Van Brucker wore yellow silk and black 
Brussels lace. Numerous other ladies wore equally expen- 
sive and beautiful dresses, but space will not admit mention of 
all the guests and their costumes did the patience of the reader 
allow it. Doubtless the female reader has already lost all 
patience with the bungling efforts of a masculine pen to do 
justice to the utter loveliness of a five thousand dollar dress. 

Among the guests were Mrs. Chrysolite, Mrs. Ophir, 
Miss Bullion, Miss De Furrier, Mrs. St. Sapodilla and others. 
Mr. Snicker was there to perform his customary exploit in 
sugar. Mr. Van der EJeeker, a young society lion who lab- 
ored unceasingly to spend the interest on his interest, was 
there. He had lately immortalized himself by following a 
well-known actress all over the country in the role of Romeo 
to her Juliet after the play. Literature was represented by 


AN IRON CROWN. 


67 


several journalists of leviathan proportions, and the ubiqui- 
tous reporter who wrote up the ladies’ dresses, describing 
the saloons as a “ blaze of beauty and fashion.” Politics 
was represented in the person of the Hon. David Sawder 
of national reputation, to say nothing of several lesser public 
functionaries. 

Among those who must be classed as miscellaneous , for 
want of a more distinctive qualifying term, was Mr. Wynd- 
leigh Garmand, a tall, handsome, florid Englishman, with the 
regulation mutton-chop side whiskers and eye-glasses. Gar- 
mand was remotely and somewhat dubiously connected with 
the aristocracy; but the feature pertaining to him which is of 
most interest in this story is the fact that he was very wealthy. 
His father had amassed a vast fortune in trade, and then 
opportunely died at the proper moment, leaving it all to his 
son. This considerate conduct on the part of the old gentle- 
man may be adduced as a worthy example to those obstinate 
parents who persist in living long after they cease to be use- 
ful. Garmand was a thoroughly fresh Englishman, in the 
widest acceptation of that much abused adjective. He had 
come to America to learn our “ rough ways,” and had begun 
at Fifth Avenue because it happened to be the first place he 
struck. 

Mr. Garmand had letters to the Norwells and others in 
good society, hence had no difficulty in entering the best 
circles at once. He had to some extent made a confidant of 
Tom Norwell, whose genial manner soon thawed English . 
reserve so far as that very refractory article can be liquified. 
This was Garmand’s first appearance in republican society. 
He was in some considerable doubt as to what was expected 
of him in the way of dress in the wilds of a new country. 
From what he had seen he thought this country was not 
half so wild as he had supposed. He had always heard that 
the Americans were a set of uncouth, disagreeable savages, 
with possibly a few rare exceptions, and he believed it. Un- 
fortunately two or three specimens of the traveling Yankee 
whom he had accidentally known in London confirmed this 
view by their disgusting airs and reckless display of speedily- 
acquired wealth. 

Garmand’s father being only in trade and a man of little 
culture, the family had never been admitted into the very 
best society at home, and he was totally ignorant of what was 
expected of him here. He consulted Tom Norwell as to 


68 


AN IRON CROWN. 


what was demanded of him on this occasion. Had Tom 
advised him to go to the Ingledee ball in corduroy trousers, 
top boots and a flannel blouse, he should certainly have con- 
sidered the matter. But no amount of coaching could con- 
ceal his ignorance, not only of New York society but of 
American geography and history in general. He had read 
only a little English history and the small amount of general 
history incident to it. That was all his father thought it 
worth the while of an Englishman to know. The son had 
come to learn our rough ways , and was of an inquiring turn 
of mind in consequence. 

During the course of the evening Garmand was intro- 
duced to Arthur Wilson, and a conversation sprang up be- 
tween them. 

“ Have you ever visited this country before, Mr. Gar- 
mand?” Garmand’s language was very good. His speech 
was altogether too well calked to leak aspirates promiscuous- 
ly after the harrowing manner of his unlettered countryman. 
Still he had the indescribable, affected drawl of the cockney 
who broadens his lazy vowels and obscures his r’s. It can- 
not be placed on paper, but must be heard to be appreciated. 
The verb “ cawn’t ” gives a morsel which will in some meas- 
ure illustrate the kind of sound but not the prolongation of it. 

a No; never had the opportunity before. I came over on 
a tour of some duration to study mankind in his more untram- 
meled aspects.” He thought this a very delicate way of 
putting the case. He thought untrammeled aspects a reason- 
able concession to Yankee feelings, when in reality he meant 
he had come over to dissect a live Yankee and see what the 
animal was made of. 

“ I have no doubt you will find the untrammeled aspects 
you speak of very interesting.” 

“Ah, indeed? Yes, I dehsay! Never gave it any study 
whatever, you know, ah, but now I mean to make amends 
and take a very careful review of your social and political 
habits, and particularly the staatus of the lower closses.” He 
said this, with an air which implied that America was a great 
natural curiosity to be looked upon as such, turned over, eye- 
glassed and dissected merely as the means of gratifying curi- 
osity rather than from any real benefits to be derived from 
the examination. It was a case similar to that of the natu- 
ralist who expends much time and patience, studying the 
habits of ants to learn whether they really possess slaves, or 


AN IRON CROWN. 


69 


the domestic privacy of robins to ascertain whether they are 
addicted to polygamy. Both are subjects of some interest, but 
of small practical moment. Garmand added: 

u Really, I cawn’t see why the study of primitive man- 
ners and customs might not be made chawmingly interest- 
ing.” He thought he could take a morning stroll from Union 
Square and find an Arcadian region where the inhabitants 
were delightfully fresh and primitive. 

“ Mr. Garmand, I assure you such studies as you propose, 
will be very interesting and novel. Possibly you will go 
home and write a book about America?” 

w Cawn’t say now ’pon my soul. Hadn’t thought of it 
really.” He never noticed the very apparent irony of Wil- 
son’s interrogatory. In a nation which considers nothing im- 
possible, and which has produced the grandest literature of all 
time, the writing of a book is a matter of course, and a mere 
trifle. 

“ Do you think that I shall find the Americans, that is to 
say the natives, very communicative on the subjects which I 
propose investigating? ” 

“ There’s no doubt of it. They will all be pleased to aid 
you. It would afford me great pleasure at any time you 
choose if you would command me.” 

“ Oh, ah, thank you; you are very kind. I shall some day 
take advantage of your offer.” About this stage of the inter- 
view Miss Ingledee happened to discover the whereabouts of 
this unique pair. She wished to get a little better acquainted 
with Mr. Wilson, because he was a friend of Tom Norwell. 
With apologies for the interruption she drew Wilson away, 
and piloted Garmand to her friend, Harrie Snicker, where we 
. will leave them for the present. Chetta had been indefatiga- 
ble in her effort to make the ball a success. Her father had 
prepared this great show at vast expense merely to convince 
the world that the family of a railway king asks no odds 
socially, financially, or otherwise, of any of the oldest fami- 
lies. He believed in advertising. Chetta, since the effort had 
been made, wished its success in a somewhat different sense, 
and lent her energies to accomplishing one purpose — the 
pleasing of her guests. She had a word for all her acquain- 
tances, and it was Mr. Wilson’s turn now. 

“ You are a friend of Mr. Norwell? ” 

“Yes, I am visiting the family. Our fathers were old 
friends.” 


7 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ It must be very pleasant to recall old times and associa- 
tions.” 

M I find it so, though I had previously seen but little of 
Tom Norwell. He is quite a society man, I infer.” 

“ Oh, yes, indeed! He goes everywhere. Everybody 
knows Thomas Norwell.” 

In making this commonplace remark Chetta had uncon- 
sciously fallen into the set phrases of supererogation adopted 
by good society when speaking of itself. I use the term 
good society as a further illustration of this principle. By 
everybody Chetta meant merely high society, and not, as 
might be inferred from a literal construction, boot-blacks, por- 
ters, and hackmen, though there came a time when the ears 
of even those for a brief season rang with the name of Nor- 
well, which was on every tongue. 

“ He seems very popular,” said Wilson, a and he deserves 
to be, for he is an uncommonly good fellow.” He was on the 
point of adding, “ Don’t you think so, Miss Ingledee?” when 
a sudden thought arrested his speech just in time. Such a 
question in a case where the young lady was known to be in- 
timately acquainted with the young man, might pass beyond 
the proper bounds of conventional conversation. .Her heart 
would have leaped at the question, though her lips would 
have framed a very indifferent reply. The mystery of a wo- 
man’s love is like perpetual motion — never to be solved. 

u How do you like the city, Mr. Wilson? ” 

“ I am delighted with it so far.” Wilson was, indeed, for- 
tunate in having a card to high society in the social standing 
of the Norwells. With their aid he had seen more in one 
month of fashionable doings than he could have seen in ten 
years or perhaps a lifetime unaided. She added: “I must 
introduce you to Miss De Furrier. She is an heiress of one 
of the wealthiest families in the city. She leads the very 
cream of the cream in societv.” Miss De Furrier was a wo- 
man of ordinary beauty. There was nothing striking in her 
appearance, though, she was dressed with exquisite taste. 
Her manners, which were frank and winning, exhibited thor- 
ough culture and genuine refinement. The introduction took 
place, and Chetta, who could devote little time to each guest, 
glided elsewhere. 

Supper by the renowned caterer, Del Mundo, was con- 
stantly being served after eleven o’clock in the public dining- 
room of the house and a spacious annex built temporarily for 


AN IRON CROWN. 


7 1 


the occasion. The tables groaned (it is customary for tables 
to groan on such occasions) with the most costly luxuries and 
exquisite delicacies. There were eatables enough to feed an 
army, and the way in which they disappeared, showed a high 
degree of appreciation on the part of the public. Mr. Garmand 
had secured Miss Harrie Snicker as a partner to supper. Miss 
Snicker liked foreigners. Americans were so 44 common.” 
She had introduced him to her father and her mother who 
was a tall, faded woman, chiefly noticeable for a scared look 
in her eyes, and a marked reticence which is popularly sup- 
posed to be an index of superior wisdom, but which frequent- 
ly conceals only vacuity. 

Mr. and Mrs. Snicker, with two or three couples more 
denominated old folks, had decided on an early supper. The 
little coterie found seats together at a table. Garmand 
thought this a favorable opportunity to learn something more 
about the United States. He had already begun to conclude 
that perhaps after all this country was considerable of a spot 
on the map of the world. Had he known that 3,000 miles of 
forest, mountain and prairie separated Calais, Maine, from 
San Diego, California; or that an equal space of fertile soil 
stretched from the graceful palms of Cape Sable to the giant 
pines of Puget Sound, his suspicion would have been con- 
firmed. But fortunately for his self-satisfied patriotism he did 
not know it. Nor was Garmand by any means an igno- 
ramus. He could locate Arbela and Marathon. He knew 
considerable about the Saxons, Danes and Normans, and still 
more about Wellington. He had come to America to learn, 
and expected to know all worth finding out in one short visit. 
He began on Miss Harrie Snicker. Before that young lady 
had been introduced to him five minutes she inadvertently 
called him 44 My Lord,” and then blushingly apologized, 
though his disclaimer of the title showed no anger what- 
ever. 

44 Pve heard of the Hoosiers, Miss Snicker. Could you 
tell me something of the habits of that strange tribe, which, 
if I am correctly informed, is not yet extinct?” 

44 1 don’t pay much attention to those horrid common 
things. I believe they live out West, in Utah, or some- 
where.” 

44 Do they practice polygamy, then?” 

44 What a very strange question. How should I know ?” 
she answered, with a pretty little pout, as if such a question 


7 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


was hardly the thing to propound to a young lady. “ I’ll ask 
pa. Pa.” This little syllable was spoken with an indescribable 
tone which indicated languor of thought, affectation and petu- 
lance. It was prolonged to several times its natural continua- 
tion as was befitting any reference, however short, to so im- 
portant a personage in the Snicker economy. 

“ What is it, daughter?” inquired Snicker, with his mouth 
uncomfortably full of fried oysters. 

“ Tell Mr. Garmand about the Hoosiers.” 

“ They live in Indiana and wear blue jeans,” was the 
laconic reply, with another fried oyster immediately succeed- 
ing it. 

“Do they have a plurality of wives?” 

“A which?” 

46 Several wives, you know.” 

“No; can’t hardly support one, I guess.” Snicker an- 
swered in a rather loud, dogmatical tone, which indicated that 
when he expressed an opinion on any subject, that settled it. 

“Ah, thank you.” Garmand, as became a gallant, again 
addressed Miss Snicker. “It must be delightfully unique to 
live in a country where so many peoples and customs pass be- 
fore your eye every day, you know. There are the Hoosiers, 
the Suckers, the Modocs, the Apaches, and so many other 
deli ghtfully primitive tribes.” 

“ What strange questions you ask, my Lord — I beg par- 
don — Mr. Garmand, I mean.” After this little verbal naugh- 
tiness a blush struggled to make itself apparent beneath the 
powder on Miss Snicker’s cheek, but failed. She went on: 

“Those things are so very co?nmon that I never pay any 
attention to them.” 

Common was a word of daily, nay, hourly necessity in 
the Snicker vocabulary. The family looked with contempt 
on anything common, including the sixth sense of that name. 
Snicker, Senior, was “ no common man, sir,” as he frequently 
informed his acquaintances. For this reason Tom Norwell, 
Hickley, Silas Ingledee, and the young men generally, knew 
him confidentially as the “ Old Commoner.” Fred Snicker 
was the “ Young Commoner,” and Miss Harrie “ The Little 
Commoner.” In despair at such meager results, Garmand 
again directed his battery against the Old Commoner. 

“ This seems to be a country of considerable opportunity, 
Mr. Snicker. The common people, I observe, appear to have 
considerable to say here.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 73 

The common people he had seen in Fifth avenue did, in- 
deed, seem to create some stir in the world. 

44 Grand opportunities, sir,” came back, filtered through a 
spoonful of lobster salad. 

44 And open apparently to the peasantry.” 

44 The which, sir?” 

“ The peasantry, the ah — the lower closses, you know.” 

“ We’ve no peasantry here, Mr. Garmand. Our people 
are intelligent citizens, sir. With us they are simply the com- 
mon people.” 

44 And the opportunities, you know, are they open to all ?” 
44 Well, in one sense yes, in one sense no.” Snicker de- 
livered this opinion slowly in sections, conscious of its vast 
importance. 44 There are great opportunities in America, but 
it takes no common man to seize them, sir.” He uncon- 
sciously used the word seize with precision. If there were 
less seizing, doubtless there would be fewer great opportuni- 
ties. 44 For instance,” he continued, seriously impeded with 
chicken and jelly, 44 I scooped a million out of sugar.” 

44 No! really, you know,” ejaculated Garmand. 

44 Why didn’t other people do it?” He did not reflect that 
if everybody had at the same time engaged in scooping 
sugar, the supply both of scoops and sugar might have been 
inadequate. 

44 I scarcely understand you,” said Garmand, with a puz- 
zled air. 

44 I said I scooped a million out of sugar. It’s simple 
enough, but no common thing, I assure you.” 

44 Oh, I see,” said Garmand. 44 You were ah — once en- 
gaged in a sugar factory, eh ?” 

This was a very natural mistake, for Snicker’s well-knit, 
portly frame, short neck and powerful hand indicated very 
superior powers when anything was to be scooped in a physi- 
cal sense. 

44 Wrong, sir,” said Snicker, with as much dignity as 
could be assumed under the depressing influences of a tart 
that persisted in dripping. 44 1 bought low and sold high. 
When the w«ar began I saw that sugar was goin’ to go higher 
than Gilderoy’s kite. I bought all there was in the market. 
Simple enough, wasn’t it?” 

44 Chawmingly simple.” 

44 Part of it was molasses, Pa.” 

44 Oh, a trifle of a hundred thousand barrels,” he replied, 


74 


AN IRON CROWN. 


dismissing the subject and the tart at the same time, with a 
wave of his hand. The party now left the table to escape 
the crush which was beginning to be felt in the vicinity of 
the edibles. 

Mr. Ingledee did not play the host with the same genial- 
ity that marked the efforts of his daughter. He was studi- 
ously polite to all, but extra attentions on his part were 
scarcely becoming to his position unless bestowed on noted 
men, such as the Hon. Dave Sawder. It was quite enough 
for the rank and file to be invited to his house at all. If 
cordiality might seem lacking, there was much real dignity 
in his commanding figure and rigorously polite manner. He 
and the Hon. Dave Sawder were discussing politics. Ingle- 
dee 'had strong convictions that the only way to save the 
country was to keep the party which was now in power in 
possession of the government. There was much patriotic 
talk about the best interests of the countrv, some about the 
purity of the ballot box, and some on the currency question. 
The subject nearest both their hearts, — the attitude of the 
people and the government on the railroad question, — was not 
mentioned at all. That could be better discussed elsewhere. 

A Mr. Brownell joined in the conversation. Brownell 
was a pompous man of most patrician appearance. He was 
very wealthy, and had no business. He and his family spent 
a great deal of time abroad, where the conditions appeared 
to be more favorable to the proper nurture of their transcend- 
ent pride. The care of this was quite enough for one man. 
It left him no time to fulfil the common duties of a citizen. 
He paid heavy taxes without a murmur because that was a 
matter of course, *and cost nothing but money. He had no 
time to vote, and boasted that he had never participated in 
that plebeian performance but once when he was very young. 
Saw^der was trying with indifferent success to convince him 
that it was his duty to vote. Brownell, as a compromise, 
said he would ask his private secretary to go to the polls, — 
thought he was a voter, was not quite sure. In Mr. Brow- 
nell’s estimation it was scarcely worth while being an Amer- 
ican citizen. The Roman, in that elder day, thought to be a 
Roman citizen was greater than a king. Mr. Fred Snicker, 
who had joined the group, said with considerable show of 
patriotism that he intended to cast his first vote “ even if it 
did rain and prove disagweeable.” Horace Roker announced 
a like determination. Snicker continued : 


AN IRON CROWN. 


75 


“It’s a cleucedly disagweeable duty though. I think there 
ought to be separate polls planted for the upper classes.” He 
spoke of the polls as if he referred to a hop yard. u To 
stand and be challenged by one of those fellows is too bad. 
In fact, I consider it very abwupt to interrogate a gentleman 
that way.” 

The Ingledee ball was drawing to a end at three in the 
morning. It had been a most brilliant affair. Two thousand 
guests had been invited. There were beautiful women, gor- 
geous costumes and sparkling jewels of fabulous worth. The 
air was heavy with the perfume of choice flowers, and a thou- 
sand gas jets, softened by translucent screens, poured down a 
flood of lambent light. Rapturous strains of music rose and 
fell from time to time through the spacious ballroom and 
saloons. An unceasing hum of voices was everywhere. The 
constant movement of richly-dressed ladies from place to 
place continually shifted the scene like the magic changes of 
the kaleidoscope. Guests continued to arrive until so late an 
hour that the incoming tide scarcely cleared the way for 
those homeward bound. Blooming maiden and stately dame, 
callow youth and bearded manhood, all feasted their eyes on 
the prevailing splendor that shone in every detail of the 
gorgeous whole. a 

The ball was a success. It cost one hundred thousand 
dollars. It was an occasion never to be forgotten by those 
who had participated. It made nobody happier or better, 
but it stirred to its depths a whole ocean of pride, and there 
was a vast satisfaction in that. Some there were who thought 
all this time and money and effort well expended. To them 
it was a choice oblation to the god Style, who is exalted by 
the side of Mammon in the modern Pantheon. Miss Harrie 
Snicker was happy, for she had u assisted ” at the greatest 
social event that had ever occurred in New York. Miss 
Ingledee was satisfied because she had succeeded in playing 
hostess on this, her first great occasion, without a jar in the 
movement of the great social panorama. Mr. Ingledee was 
satisfied that the thing was well done and would pay, and 
that was enough for him. In short, everybody seemed 
satisfied except those who were not invited. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


U WILL YOU WALK INTO MY PARLOR, SAID THE SPIDER 

TO THE FLY.” 

We find ourselves again in the palatial quarters of the 
Argosy Club. In the smoking room sat Mr. Norwell and 
Mr. Ingledee. Though never intimate, the two were on 
speaking terms. Lately Mr. Ingledee had seen fit to make 
the acquaintance a trifle closer and more cordial on his part. 
Mr. Norwell was a capitalist, and by some occult process 
Ingledee had learned that he was investing heavily in rail- 
way securities. Mr. Ingledqe was largely interested in the 
Pacific Midland, a trunk line which, like its twin iniquity 
engineered by Ophir, was “ a great public necessity.” The 
only difference was that Ingledee’s public necessity was 
located some thousand miles, more or less, farther from civil- 
ization than Ophir’s. Consequently it was so much farther 
from the public eye, which organ so frequently fails to see as 
to give rise to the painful suspicion that it is stone blind. 

The Midland got its necessary legislation through Con- 
gress by joining forces with the Continental & Pacific. 
Together these great corporations, through the lobby or “Third 
House,” moved on the national Legislature. There was 
unlimited wining and dining and trading of influence, and the 
smiles of fair women of amiable dispositions, and making of 
presents, and “seeing” of Congressmen when all other means 
had failed. And so the railroads got what they asked, while 
a betrayed nation slept, only to awake covered with shame 
and disgraced by the men it had honored. In all history, 
even in the days of Roman infamy, there is no record of a 
greater grab. Of all the steals, rings and rascalities which 
grew out of the Civil War, and the demoralization conse- 
quent upon it, these were the most unscrupulous in concep- 
tion, daring in execution, and colossal in proportions. 

These companies built their roads out of the generous 
bounty of the government, which bounty was granted for the 

( 76 ) 


AN IRON CROWN. 


77 


sole purpose of building a national highway for the benefit 
of the people. Their land grant was in itself an empire, and 
they scrupled not to take possession of it before they had ful- 
filled the conditions laid down in their charter. The unfor- 
tunate settlers on such lands were driven from their homes 
in some instances by bands of hired murderers, employed by 
these soulless money kings of the New World.* American 
citizens were shot down in cold blood in order that these 
grasping despots might have a few more acres. Others lived 
in dread of ejectment under forms of law from homes right- 
fully theirs, and reclaimed from nature by their own hands. 
The machinery of the state and United States government is 
often invoked in assisting unrighteous acts of usurpation, 
while the people sit indifferent. When the horse has been 
stolen, and the thief beyond reach of the law (as these par- 
ticular thieves already are), there will doubtless be a great 
hue and cry and much show of putting padlocks on the doors 
of the national stable, which needs a second Hercules for its 
cleansing. 

Ingledee was endeavoring to convince Norwell that a 
little of the Pacific Midland stock would be a good thing to 
have. It had undoubtedly been a good thing for him and his 
three or four associate conspirators, who, beginning with a 
few thousand dollars, now controlled the whole of this great 
corporation, and wielded an influence which even the United 
States Government could not successfully oppose. The gov- 
ernment subsidy in bonds, together with the company’s own 
bonds, which took precedence by the Sawder act over the 
government lien, sufficed to build the road. The company 
had their capital stock of sixty millions and nearly twelve 
million acres of land free. This stock rose to nearly par in 
due time, because the commerce of several states was obliged 
to pass over the line, and its franchises were of immense 
value. Was ever such a princely gift bestowed anywhere 
outside the fairy realms of the Arabian Nights? Statesmen 
of the Dave Sawder type are very generous with public 
property. What did Uncle Sam get in return? The privi- 
lege of paying for a railroad without the right of owning or 
controlling it, and a second mortgage which he has found no 
means of collecting. What did the people of the benefited 
(?) region get? The blessed privilege of submitting to a 


* Note i. — The Mussel-Slough tragedy. 


/ 


7 » 


AN IRON CROWN. 


monopoly so grasping, aggressive and insatiable that the mis- 
sion of the slave-driver is respectable compared with it. It 
may also be added, if anything is necessary to round out the 
fullness of such a stupendous iniquity, that the officers of the 
Midland Company, in addition to all that has been enumer- 
ated, made vast sums out of the construction of the road it- 
self. They organized a 44 Financial Credit and Supply Com- 
pany,” which undertook to build the road. Precisely as 
Oakesworth’s Construction Credit Company, of notorious 
reputation, built the Continental and Pacific. Ingledee and 
his partners let to the Financial Credit and Supply Company, 
which was themselves, construction contracts, for which 
enormous profits accrued to themselves at the expense of the 
railroad company, whose officers they were. Was there ever 
a more effective device for making money? But with this 
the public is, or should be familiar.* 

Horace Roker dropped in presently, and the conversation 
turned on the stock market in general. Several anecdotes of 
the 44 street ” were told, and Ingledee gradually veered round 
to the subject of Norwell’s investments again. 

44 Norwell, you can’t possibly find anything equal to it. 
Think of stock selling below par which will soon pay fifteen 
per cent, dividends. It paid ten last year, so you see we are 
improving.” He added, confidentially, 44 We could run it to 
twenty-five if we chose.” Or, he might have added, would 
if they dared. 

44 Really, Mr. Ingledee, your stock is unquestionably a 
good thing, but the fact is I have agreed to take a block of 
Ophir’s. He is an old friend of mine, and I feel like helping 
him first.” 

At the mention of the word friend an observer might have 
noticed a smile curl the thin lips of Roker. But it passed in- 
stantly, and the firm lines of his mouth again indicated noth- 
ing but their usual inflexible gentility. 

Ingledee, who had a very persistent cast of mind in 
matters of urgent moment, replied, 44 Yes, that is all well 
enough. I don’t care, of course, to interfere with Ophir’s 
transactions, but you know, Norwell, that it is not best to 
carry all your eggs in one basket. The rain that ruins your 
hay makes your corn, don’t you see. Roker, what do you 
think of Midland Pacific?” 


*See Note 2, especially the summary . 


AN IRON CROWN. 


79 


u It is gilt-edged security beyond question.” 
w I do not doubt it, gentlemen. I will consider the mat- 
ter, but for the present I have all the railroad securities I care 
to carry.” Mr. Norwell rose and prepared to take his de- 
parture. 

a Consider the matter, Norwell, and drop in.” 

“ I think I can scarcely promise that, Mr. Ingledee.” 

Mr. Norwell took his leave and only Roker and Ingledee 
happened to remain in the room. Roker was secretly pleased 
to have so good an opportunity to improve the acquaintance 
of his employer. It may be supposed that ten years of al- 
. most daily intercourse had already made these two men well 
acquainted. But such was not the case. We may meet peo- 
ple every day for years; we may eat with them, work with 
them, and imagine we know them as well as our Bibles — pos- 
sibly much better. We pronounce such a person a good fel- 
low if we like him, or a bore if we dislike him. Usually we 
do not know him to he either, in reality. A sudden crisis 
comes in our acquaintance. A pressing need of service on his 
part or ours proves his nobility of soul to be like fine gold or 
his selfishness to be deserving only of contempt. Perhaps a 
mere trifle leads to this startling revelation, and we learn in 
ten minutes what we failed to see in ten years. 

Horace Roker had been studying his employer with a 
purpose, and knew him much better than Ingledee suspected. 
He felt that the time had come for making some cautious ap- 
proaches toward the one great object he had in view. He 
already had the confidence of the son, and felt that it was 
within the scope of probability to hold the same relation 
toward the father. As to the daughter, had she not always 
been gracious? In that quarter he would trust his passable 
looks, good manners and honeyed words. Pie argued that 
any woman who is heart free will love any man of de- 
cent standing and good prospects, provided he persistently 
leads her to believe that he loves her. But theories are use- 
less in love. Ingledee spoke first, unconsciously paving the 
way to his confidential clerk’s purpose. 

u Roker, I should like to get Norwell into M. P. He is 
one of the solid men of the city. He would influence a 
great many more who are rather conservative respecting such 
investments.” 

“ He would be of great value, hut I hardly think you’ll 
get him.” 


8o 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Why ?” 

“ He is an old personal friend of Ophir’s.” 

“ Old personal friend. Ah, indeed?” The tone of this re- 
mark might indicate that Mr. Ingledee appreciated the advant- 
age which old personal friendship may offer when we wish to 
make use of it for our own selfish purposes. 

“ I shall not withdraw my proposition on that account. 
Ophir would be none too particular in handling my personal 
friends.” 

“ I merely wished to say that I thought it impossible to 
get him into the enterprise.” 

“ 1 understand your meaning.” 

“ The son, Tom Norwell, would turn the whole fortune 
into Wall street in a month if he had it.” 

“Think so? Do you know him well?” 

Roker had made this very commonplace remark with a 
design not apparent on the surface. Ostensibly it was a piece 
of information pertaining to business. It was a pointer which 
might be useful when lambs were to be shorn in the street. 

“ He is an excellent young man according to report, but 
not very decided in anything, I believe,” added Roker. 

“ Possibly; I can’t say.” 

“ I have heard him express an intention to go into the 
street some time.” 

“ Most young men probably try it once in their lives.” 
The pump was not drawing at all. A deeper level must be 
reached before any information could be extracted. The 
conversation at once took a new turn. 

“Your ball was a great success, Mr. Ingledee.” 

“Do you think so?” asked the latter, well pleased by the 
compliment. “ Such things should always be done well.” 

“And yours was admirably managed. Miss Ingledee bore 
herself with all the grace and charm supposed to belong only 
to long experience.” 

“ I believe she acquitted herself quite satisfactorily.” In 
truth, Mr. Ingledee was secretly pleased with Chetta. He 
did not before realize that a girl could be of much use. Now 
he had different ideas on the subject. 

“ Life presents so many different aspects, that the art of 
true living is in itself a great study, and I take it that few 
people really attain perfection in it, if indeed perfection be 
ever more than a relative term. For instance, some people 
grub continually and never enjoy. Others spend their entire 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Si 


time in a vain pursuit of pleasure, and never experience the 
sweet satisfaction to be derived from a bit of real work which 
accomplishes a useful purpose. Neither class have learned 
the true secret of happiness.” 

“ I agree with you there, Roker, entirely.” 
a The social and business phases of life,” said Roker, 
u should have a healthful influence upon each other. They 
do so in well-ordered lives. That work which we do easiest 
is always our very best, and so a healthy nature takes most 
pleasure in those amusements which are not frivolous. Thus 
social influences give business a healthful stimulus. If you 
will excuse a comparison which may seem at first sight sor- 
did, I have no doubt your splendid reception will in some 
way send the impulses of its waves sooner or later into busi- 
ness, I may venture to guess into Wall Street.” 

“ I’ve no doubt of it,” replied Ingledee, who had been so 
busy with Roker’s piece of logic that he did not at once 
realize its legitimate conclusion, which formulated exactly his 
own view of the subject, namely, that his grand reception 
had been a conspicuous advertisement sure to pay in the end. 
On second thought he realized that Roker looked upon the 
matter in the same light that he did himself. Under the 
guise of philosophy, Roker had steered the conversation 
round a very ticklish turning, and had made plain a fact that, 
if bluntly put, would have been disclaimed and perhaps 
resented by Mr. Ingledee. As no motive was apparent, Mr. 
Ingledee suspected no intention in the artifice. Roker’s 
plummet was capable of sounding even a railway king. He 
continued in the same careless, philosophizing tone: 

w I think a man’s surroundings have more to do with his 
success than most people allow.” 

“ I made my way in the world in spite of surroundings,” 
said Mr. Ingledee with a tone of much satisfaction. 

o 

“ 1 am aware of your views on this subject, but allow me 
to illustrate: I was reading the other day some very curious 

things concerning married men and bachelors. Statistics 
seem to show that married men lead the bachelors by far in 
most occupations of life. In some things I think a bachelor 
should succeed best. For example, the egg gatherers in 
those northern islands where men take the eggs, hanging 
meantime by a rope from the side of a dizzy cliff. In such a 
position the thought of wife and children might render the 
nerves unsteady. By the way, Mr. Ingiedee, did you ever 


82 


AN IRON CROWN. 


know any considerable number of bachelors to succeed in 
Wall Street?” 

“ Really, that is a question I never thought of.” 

“ I ask for information, and not as a mere matter of curi- 
osity. I have some ambition in that direction myself, you 
know. Of course in a small way,” he added deprecatingly. 

“ On the whole, I should advise marriage. The social 
advantages you speak of are all on the side of the married 
man.” 

“I think it good advice. You have followed it yourself. 
Doubtless your son will do the same in due time.” Family 
matters were reached at last. 

“ My son seems to delight just now in playing the fool 
rather than in seeking a sensible wife.” 

“ Boys will be boys.” 

“ He is no longer a boy. I am not satisfied with his con- 
duct.” Roker was secretly rejoiced. The beginning of con- 
fidences between himself and Ingledee was a great step 
toward the object he had in view. By a convulsive nervous 
action his scalp suddenly drew itself forward, nearly bringing 
his hair down to his eyebrows. This movement was the 
reflex of a sudden thrill of emotion. It instantly ceased, and 
Roker himself was scarcely conscious of the movement. 
Ingledee, if he noticed it, said nothing. He always consid- 
ered it a deformity, and had too much delicacy to take notice 
of a personal defect. 

“ Mr. Ingledee, possibly you forget that the conditions of 
his boyhood are very different from those of your own, if you 
will excuse comparison. He has great wealth at command 
and a position to maintain in society.” 

“And a capacity for playing the tomfool. I tell you it 
won’t do.” 

“ Really, I think you imagine it worse than it is.” 

“ It’s bad enough any way.” It was very painful for this 
proud man to allude to the skeleton in his closet, much less 
discuss it with a stranger. He felt ashamed of even appear- 
ing to set a spy on his son’s actions, but here was an oppor- 
tunity which he w r ould improve in spite of his scruples. The 
reputation and future happiness of his son were at stake, and 
he could no longer spare his own feelings, or indulge nice 
scruples. After a brief pause and with an effort, he said: 

“ Tell me what you really know of Silas.” 

Ingledee was resigned to hear disagreeable details. Roker 


AN IRON CROWN. 


% 

was not prepared to furnish them. As he seldom met Silas 
in a social way, he really knew little from personal observa- 
tion. He had heard a great deal, and could if he chose have 
made, at second hand, some rather unpalatable revelations. 
But this was no part of his programme. He told a lie by 
telling only part of the truth. 

“ Really, I have never seen anything amiss in Mr. Silas. 
He is a young man with an uncommon appreciation of enjoy- 
ment. He loves pleasure. Occasionally, perhaps, he takes 
more wine, for example, than is necessary. But then wealthy 
young men all do that and get over it later. I surely think 
you give these things undue importance. Mr. Silas is young 
yet.” Ingledee felt relieved. He knew Roker to be a man 
of good habits and sound judgment, a man whose opinion 
was worth something. 

“ Thank you, Roker, for saying so. I’m glad to hear 
you say it.” 

“ Why don’t you pick him out a good sensible wife. She 
would furnish the necessary social ballast to steady him up.” 
“ I should prefer him, for her sake, to steady up first.” 

“ By the way, I thought he was considerably interested 
in a young lady the night of your ball.” 

“ To whom do you refer? ” 

“ Miss Alice Norwell.” 

“ She is a fine girl.” 

“ And will have a cool million as her share, I understand. 
That isn’t a bad thing in itself.” 

“ Very well in its way.” Mr. Ingledee said this, with the 
tone of a man who is mentally comparing the heir, possess- 
ing forty millions, with the jioor girl who would have only 
one million. “ She is an uncommonly fine girl.” 

“She possesses more discretion, I think, than her brother 
Tom.” 

“Possibly, yes, but I think people hardly give Tom Nor- 
well credit for all there is in him. He is impulsive, I grant, 
but he is every inch a man.” 

“ I grant his good intentions, but, somehow, he never 
seemed to me as a man of thoroughly balanced character.” 
Roker had at last learned what he set out to learn. In a 
case of prospective son-in-law, Tom Norwell would probably 
lead Horace Roker so far as the father was concerned. Rok- 
er’s policy was to lay serious but insidious siege to the head 
of the house, and meantime establish so far as practical, friend- 


3 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


ly relations with the daughter. His chances would grow 
with Silas’ growing dissipation and uselessness. Should the 
son become a miserable, worthless wreck as seemed probable, 
the cool-headed business man who had already learned Wall 
street would win the prize over the thoughtless Tom Nor- 
well, who was only a good fellow. In his scheme of love, 
dollars outweighed sighs. It was about time to depart. On 
rising, Ingledee clasped Roker’s hand cordially, and said: 

“ I know you are willing to help me in this matter. Ad- 
vise the boy whenever you can without making it too ap- 
parent. We all value your judgment highly. Help me. 
Good-night.” 

“ Good-night.” 

One walked out under the twinkling stars, trusting his 
fellow-man, and believing he had a faithful ally. The other, 
though he had never by overt act wronged any one of a 
penny, walked forth a heartless villain. 


CHAPTER IX. 

MR. PIPE MALLEY SEEKS A SITUATION FOR HIS TWIN 
BROTHER QUILL, AND THE MISSES INGLEDEE AND SNICK- 
ER MAKE A CALL IN AN UNFASHIONABLE STREET WHERE 
A SERIOUS ACCIDENT IS HAPPILY AVERTED. 

It is an afternoon of late October in the peculiar Indian 
summer. The landscape is veiled in a thin, transparent, blue 
vapor, resembling smoke. There is a delicious balminess in 
the air, without the sultriness that produces languor. All 
nature assumes a romantic aspect of serene loveliness. In the 
city this is marred by the bustle of business, and the black 
smoke of thousands of chimneys, but nothing surpasses the 
loveliness of such weather in the country. There the mind 
unconsciously attunes itself in accord with nature. Care is 
forgotten, and for a brief spell the elastic spirit springs above 
the tame routine of life. The dullest soul is touched by nobler 
impulses, though he may not realize, the source of the beauty 
around him. He is happy. The person who has a keen 
appreciation of the beautiful, is in a state of constant delight- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


85 


ful enjoyment. Simply to live is a luxury. Poets praise the 
skies of sunny Italy; but he who has never drank deep 
draughts of brimming satisfaction ’mid the prodigal beauties 
of Indian summer, has missed the sweetest pleasure in life. 

The forests of oak, ash, elm and maple are gorgeous in 
flaming scarlet, purple, and gold. The reddening leaves of 
the sumach illuminate the undergrowth, while its darker 
tufts stand like sentinels above the foliage in the hedgerows. 
Here and there by streams and the edges of fields the giant 
shag-bark hickory is seen with unnumbered splints of flinty 
bark curled in confusion from its stately trunk. This magnifi- 
cent tree, whose species is the emblem of a great political 
party, is very dear to young America, regardless of party. Its 
delicious nuts are one of the choicest contributions to the 
amusements of the long winter evenings in the country. In its 
vicinity may be found the vivacious gray squirrel with his 
plume-like tail arched over his back, while he squats upright 
on his hind legs, and dexterously nibbles a nut held in his fore 
paws. His every movement is the very essence of grace and 
beauty. When alarmed he scuttles into his hole in a tree, 
firing off as he goes a volley of comical little yelps, kuk-kuk- 
kuk-kuk-kuk, somewhat resembling the quack of a duck in 
articulation, but with a different and not unmelodious tone. He 
begins his musical performance slowly and increases its rapid- 
ity until the quacks are very rapid or undistinguishable, ac- 
cording to the degree of his alarm. Sly rascal, his climbing 
powers give him the advantage over his biped rival, the 
school boy. 

The stately walnut-tree showers on the grass, and leaves 
its luscious-looking globes of a bright gold which tempt the 
eye like a rare tropical fruit. Their intensely bitter rind is 
their safety, for Mr. Squirrel takes them onlv when there is 
nothing better. In the rich land by the streams is a small 
tree with a smooth, almost silvery bark. Its long, glossy, 
green leaf is now the color of gold. Sparingly on its branches 
hangs a large clustered fruit, long, and of ample dimensions, 
which is slowly turning to the same attractive color. It is 
the luscious pawpaw whose custard like pulp is the delight of 
those who have learned to relish it, the scorn of those who 
have not. 

In the distance may be heard all day long the busy rattle 
of a threshing-machine. Crows caw lazily from the decayed 
top of a tall oak, or wing their heavy flight in long black 




86 


AN IRON CROWN. 


lines. The vegetable world proclaims the death of a season, 
but animated nature is active. The charms of Indian summer 
are multitudinous. Italy may please with a dreamful sense of 
perfect ease. America, in this best of all seasons, thrills with 
an ecstasy of full-waking delights in its active, changeful 
beauty. Yet the city visitor to the country knows nothing of 
all this, for he has returned to his grime and smoke before it 
began. 

On such a day Garmand, Wilson and Tom Norwell met 
in Hickley’s office. Wilson, despairing of finding suitable 
employment in New York at present, intended to start for the 
West, where he had friends. There he had secured a position 
as schoolteacher, and had come to bid Hickley good-bye. 
The conversation turned on the all-absorbing topic of the ap- 
proaching election. The candidacy of the Hon. Dave Saw- 
der was mentioned in due time, when Norwell remarked: 

44 Sawder is not a fit man to represent this district or any 
other in Congress.” 

44 Why not?” asked Hickley. 

44 His record is not good. He has had too much to do 
with the railroad legislation of the past few years.” 

“Those reports were started by his enemies possibly,” re- 
plied Hickley. 

“ That may be, but an enemy may get at the truth in such 
cases much quicker than a friend. For my part, I think if 
we knew the truth about Sawder’s public record we should 
find him spotted to the core with bribery, more or less direct, 
inside speculation, and, in short, all sorts of official venality.” 
Hickley winced under this scathing denunciation of Sawder 
and his methods, but being a politician he was obliged to 
make black appear white, if possible. 

44 Norwell, you are prejudiced against Sawder. The 
American people everywhere recognize him as a man of 
great ability.” 

“ I’m not disputing his ability.” 

“You read the 4 Daily Censure.’ That organ is always 
abusing somebody. Just now they are making a violent 
attack upon Sawder. The editor of the 4 Censure ’ wanted 
his brother placed in a soft spot in the Custom House. Saw- 
der wanted another fellow to have it and he got it. That 
accounts for such a torrent of editorial indignation and expos- 
ure. Two years ago, when Sawder was up for renomina- 
tion, the same charges were made, and the 4 Censure ’ proved 


AN IRON CROWN. £>7 

them, to its own satisfaction at least, to be utterly false and 
malicious. Now what is their opinion worth?” 

“ Hickley, I have opinions of my own derived from other 
sources.” 

“ Granting that Sawder may have used his official knowl- 
edge in his own interest to make a little money, it is not 
claimed that he ever swindled the government, or anybody 
else, in fact. He is an able man. You can’t afford to bolt 
him just now in this crisis of the party.” The party was 
always in a crisis when bolters were to be whipped into the 
traces. Just now the party whip was being flourished vigo- 
rously on very hand. Voters were provided with backs, and 
the party with a whip. It was plain that nature intended 
them to go together. 

“ I’ve never said I shouldn’t vote for him.” 

“ Why,” said Wilson, “ you certainly will not vote for a 
man whom you believe to be unfaithful to his official trust?” 

“ That must be a very interesting position from a moral 
standpoint, you know,” Garmand allowed. 

“ Oh, politics and morals have nothing to do with each 
other,” rejoined Tom, with a laugh. 

“We must admit that the other party has still less to 
recommend it,” urged Hickley. 

“ Would you vote for a thief,” asked Wilson, “ because he 
wore your party label?” 

“ This is not a parallel case.” Hickley felt that his posi- 
tion was untenable; but he must do the work assigned him, 
or lose the favor of Sawder and Ophir. In the first place he 
tried to convince himself that nothing had ever been urged 
against Sawder which that gentleman had not explained. 
Some of these explanations were very tardy, and his enemies 
said they were very flimsy, but they were conclusive to the 
rank and file of his party, who were anxious to believe. 
Then his opponent, though personally a very good man, rep- 
resented an atrociously bad party, at least in the estimation of 
its opponents. It was a choice of two evils. 

“ In other words,” said Wilson, u stealing is to be done, 
and you prefer your party should do it.” Wilson’s remark 
described in brief how tightly the party collar is riveted on 
the neck of the average American citizen. By that collar he 
may be led to the very brink of the most dangerous political 
chasm. Hickley laughed heartily: 

“ Pshaw, Wilson, don’t talk of stealing. That has always 


88 


AN IRON CROWN. 


been going on in government ever since there were govern- 
ments. There must be some of it, no matter who is in or 
who is out.” 

“And,” added Tom, “ if the other fellows ever get in they 
will empty the treasury, and then sell the capitol for tomb- 
stones.” 

“ Marble, is it?” queried Garmand. 

“ Yes.” 

u ’Pon my soul, a novel idea! Why hasn’t it been tried 
before?” A hearty laugh ensued. 

“ Perhaps nobody thought it worth while to steal a tomb- 
stone,” reflected Hickley. “ The people furnish that free for 
political graves.” 

“ Speaking of stealing reminds me that I read last (lost) 
night about some senator or chap of that kind, you know, 
trying to encroach on an Indian’s reserve. Deuced funny 
idea that, of stealing a fellow’s reserve, for if he was so very 
reserved, you know, how could the other fellow approach 
him? Now I cawn’t quite see that.” 

“ Oh, a politician can approach anything,” replied Nor- 
well. “ He can break through any reserve, particularly the 
Indian’s, “ though that is the biggest thing about the red 
man.” 

“ But I think it very unfair to intrude on a man in that 
way if he chooses to cultivate a reserve.” 

“ But the Indian seldom cultivates his reserve,” added 
Wilson drily. 

“ Oh, I see, it is natural. Well, it ought to be respected 
anyhow.” 

The subject of Indians very naturally led to the subject 
of hunting. Garmand remarked that he supposed hunting 
formed an important pastime of the inhabitants in the unex- 
plored forests of the interior. 

“ Oh, yes,” replied Wilson, “ everybody hunts in Amer- 
ica.” He said this in a matter-of-fact, surprised tone, just as 
he would have replied had he been asked if Americans 
usually wore shoes. 

“ A sort of national sport, eh ? peculiar to ” — he nearly 
said barbarians, but prudently tacked just in time and added, 
— “peculiar to Americans, but in Europe confined to the 
nobility. I’ve read of some of these great hunts where the 
people assemble for miles around and drive in the game.” 
The account which Garmand had read was a burlesque on a 


AN IRON CROWN. 


89 

hunt by an American newspaper writer. This waif from 
the vast fund of border humor had made its way across the 
Atlantic, where it had been reprinted, and assumed all the 
dignity of history. “ In the interior districts they form a cir- 
cle of miles in extent, you know, and drive in bears, raccoons, 
buffalo, opossums and other beasts of prey. It must be 
grand sport. I mean to join such a hunt myself before I 
return to — aw, Europe. I suppose the peasantry do the driv- 
ing, and the upper closses have the first chawnce at the shoot- 
ing and dividing the game. That is the case, you know, the 
world over, and is a very proper and simple arrangement.” 
The boys were willing to allow Garmand so cheap a pleasure 
as a circular hunt, and took the cue readily from the infor- 
mation he volunteered. 

“ Yes, that is about the case here. The peasantry collect 
for miles, armed with such rude weapons as they possess, 
usually rifles and Arkansaw toothpicks,” replied Wilson. 

“Toothpicks! Aw, they end the day with a feast, I 
infer?” 

“ Mr. Garmand, you anticipate so often that I really have 
a suspicion that you know all this already, and could inform 
us natives concerning many things.” * 

Garmand hastily disclaimed any such intention, and begged 
that the “ chawming narration” might proceed, as he would 
like to pick up a few additional points of interest. 

“As I was saying, the peasantry form a circle several 
miles in diameter, and gradually closing in, frighten the game 
toward the center, They call this beating around the bush.” 

“ ’Pon my soul, how funny. Now, in England, beating 
around the bush is about the same thing as going round to 
the back part of the house and climbing in at the window 
when vou might walk in at the front door.” 

y O 

“ That may be as you say,” replied Wilson, “ but in this 
country it means just what I have told you. Well, the peo- 
ple advance, shouting, blowing horns and discoursing music 
on the horse fiddle.” 

“Horse fiddle! Is that a species of music for the horse 
guards? Really, you know — I cawn’t quite locate that in- 
strument.” 

“ Its chief use is in charivari orchestra. It has nothing 
to do with a horse, as you infer. It is a peculiar combination 
of boards and hickory springs, which discourses soul-stirring 
music, that may be heard at a distance of five miles.” 


9 o 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Suitable for open air concerts?” 

“ That’s the idea exactly. Well, as the men tramp 
through the woods they beat up each hush with their Arkan- 
saw toothpicks.” 

“ Are these toothpicks so very large?” 

“ They are sometimes nearly two feet long.” 

“ What — oh, I see. A Yankee joke; well I shall not be 
ungenerous enough to disallow the Yankee’s privilege in 
having his joke, though it is about a toothpick two feet long. 
Really, I’d never acknowledge such a toothpick if I were an 
American, for it implies a very liberal mouth, you know.” 
4< I admit the impeachment, Mr. Garmand,” replied Wil- 
son. “ I see you draw the line very accurately between fact 
and fiction. I shall hereafter be very guarded in my state- 
ments. As I was saying, they beat up the bushes and out 
jump the animals and flee.” 

“ Is game so very plenty?” 

“ Oh, yes; in raspberry time nearly every bush conceals a 
gormandizing ’possum or a voracious bear, come to feed on 
the tempting fruit. As they near the inner circle the scene is 
indescribable. All is wild confusion, in which may be dis- 
tinguished the piercing notes of the ground hog, the rapid 
flight of the deer, the plaintive cries of the alarmed bear, the 
angry snort of the fierce opossum, and the weird wail of the 
melancholy coon. Once seen it is a sight never to be for- 
gotten.” 

“ I dare say. Then the nobility shoot the game, you 
say ? ” 

“For once you are in a slight error,” remarked Wilson, 
half apologetically, half confidentially. “ In this country we 
have an absurd law, which forbids the granting of patents of 
nobility. But the people recognize a nobility, nevertheless, 
which is pretty well defined by certain titles derived from the 
simple but poetical language of the aborigines, such as Horn- 
soggier, Corncraker, Chieftooter, etc. They are distinguished 
by a very simple device. Their caps are made of coon skin; 
from the cap of a Hornsoggler dangles one coon’s tail; from 
that of a Corncracker two coons’ tails, while a Chieftooter is 
ornamented by three coons’ tails.” 

At this point the conversation was interrupted by the 
opening of the outer door. A visitor entered who proved on 
nearer inspection to be Pipe Malley. He stepped confidently 
forward and inquired for the “ boss.” Hickley tacitly ad- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


9 1 


mitted that he was the person in question, by inquiring Pipe’s 
wants. 

“ Be you wantin’ a office boy,” said Pipe, with the same 
awkward twisting bow and the same angular scrape of his 
right boot, the toe of which yawned a little more than when 
we last saw him. 

“ I hardly think so,” replied Hickley. He had one lazy, 
noisy cub already to slide down the banisters and make life 
miserable for his employer and the adjoining tenants. 

u He’s a bang-up boy, mister.” 

“ Oh, it isn’t yourself, then?” said Hickley, scanning him 
curiously. 

“ Naw, it’s my brother Quill. I’m twins.” 

“ Indeed! You have a place for yourself?” Pipe had ju- 
diciously left his kit for blacking boots outside with Quill. 

“ Oh, I kin git along. Don’t yer min’ me. I kin pick up 
a job on the fly. But Quill is sort o’ modest like, an’ can’t 
rough it. He’ll never git along in the shine an’ paper business. 
There’s too much composition. Business is all busted up.” 

“ Too much composition?” queried Hickley, with a smile. 

“Yes, too many fellers rushin’ into business, that makes 
composition active.” As a new boy who rashly competes on 
forbidden ground is usually subjected to a mellowing process 
under the blows of half a dozen bootblacks’ kits, wielded 
by as many vigorous arms, composition may indeed be termed 
active. 

“ I need no boy at present, young man.” 

“ Say, mister,” urged Pipe, “ I kin give boss references.” 
He added, confidentially, u I’ve inflooence, so I has.” Hick- 
ley could not restrain a laugh. Here was a surprise; the 
word influence, so potent a talisman in politics, had descended 
at last to street gamins. 

“Oh, you kin laugh, mister, all yer want ter. ’Spect it 
does sound funny. I hain’t no papers to show, but I’ve a 
friend that’s no slouch, an’ one that won’t go back on a feller, 
nuther.” 

“ That is the sort of friend to have.” 

“ Bet yer life it is.” At this moment Tom Norwell, Wil- 
son and Garmand emerged from the inner office. “He knows 
her, too,” continued Pipe. 

“Who knows her?” asked Hickley. 

u Why, that tall feller, with light hair,” Pipe continued, 
pointing to Norwell. 


92 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Tom, some of your friends, it seems.” 

“ ’Pon my word, that cawn’t be. He seems to belong to 
— to the lower closses, I should say,” and Garmand eyed him 
curiously with his glass. 

“ Don’t you know me, Mr. Norwell,” said Pipe, nothing 
daunted. “ We was interduced at Ingledee’s. 1 had a in- 
vite there an’ you dropped in.” 

There was an explosion of laughter at Tom’s expense, 
who was pretending he could not think where and when he 
had seen Pipe, and did not care to have his lady friends dis- 
cussed publicly by bootblacks. 

“ What is your name, my boy?” asked Tom. 

“ Pipe, Pipe Malley, sir,” answered the boy in an injured 
tone, as the catfish boot yawed a trifle to the right. 

“ Haven’t you a brother?” 

“ Yes, sir. I’m twins.” 

“ You mean that you and he are twins.” 
u Ain’t that wot I jes said? We’re both twins, an’ if Quill 
is twins why ain’t I, too ?” Pipe’s ideas of the grammatical, and 
indeed of the social relations expressed by the word twins, 
were very hazy. 

“ I’m awful sorry, mister, you hain’t no place for Quill. 
I’ve looked round till I’m dead sick of it. I never seed times 
so hard. Quill can’t sneak onto a job, I guess, at all. No 
use talkin’, mother an’ me ’ll have to raise that hoy.” 

“ You’ll strike something for him,” said Tom, encour- 
agingly. 

“ ’Spect I may, sometime. Must be a hustlin’, though,” 
and away he went. 

Outside Quill was at that moment executing a breakdown 
in the hallway, to the great edification of Hickley’s office boy 
and two or three other satellites of the law in a similar hum- 
ble capacity. 

“ Stop that racket. Hain’t yer ashamed o’ yerself, givin’ 
yerself away like that when I’m tryin’ to get yer a sitiwa- 
tion. Some people don’t care a straw wot a buddy does fur 
’em.” 

“ I wan’t a doin’ nothin’, Pipe,” remonstrated Quill, rather 
mildlv. 

“ Oh, you wusn’t, eh ? Now you git an’ sell the rest o’ 
them Heralses, or I’ll maul yer.” Quill got without argu- 
ment. 

Pipe wended his way toward home, trying to pick up a 


AN IRON CROWN. 


93 


little business on the way. Mrs. Malley lived in a narrow, 
dirty, rickety street east of the Bowery, and not far from that 
celebrated thoroughfare. She had apartments, if two crazy 
little rooms may be dignified by that term, in a dilapidated three- 
story tenement house of very ancient architecture. The rot- 
ten brick walls were so cracked, twisted and warped that the 
whole structure was in imminent danger of tumbling into the 
street. It would have been condemned long ago by the board 
of health as dangerous and unfit for human habitation if the 
owner had not been an alderman for years. He was a 'pro- 
fessional alderman, and the reader who has ever resided for a 
term of years in a great city will know at once what that 
means. It means poverty and trickery to begin on, official 
corruption, fine houses, fine clothes, fine dinners to end on. 
No doubt there are honest men among aldermen, just as occa- 
sionally an honest man has the misfortune to get into the pen- 
itentiary. It is said that the devil is not so black as he is 
painted, and perhaps it would only be fair to give the pro- 
fessional alderman the benefit of the same doubt. 

The rickety wooden-stairs of this tenement-house were so 
worn, decayed, and eaten through by the continual tramping of 
feet for years, that to ascend them in the dark was an under- 
taking full as dangerous as the ascent of the pyramids. In 
the narrow street might be seen at all times of day or even- 
ing blear-eyed, slatternly women, scantily-clad, sickly-looking 
children, and besotted, shambling creatures to whom the term 
man must be applied, because there is no other name for them, 
and because it would be a gross libel on dumb creatures to 
call them brutes. Noise, brawling and obscenity prevailed 
day and night, especially by night. Mrs. Malley had in this 
unpromising locality undertaken the grave responsibility of 
u raising ” twins, her husband having died years ago. She 
was an aristocrat among the miserable tenants of this local- 
ity, for her lodgings were on the ground floor. Besides, as 
an adjunct to her laundry business, she had the use of a mis- 
erable, little dirty patch of back yard to which the less for- 
tunate were denied access. 

Pipe was sauntering leisurely along, whistling a popular 
campaign air, when he spied two ladies driving into the other 
end of the street. Further examination revealed the pony 
and phaeton of Miss Chetta Ingledee, who was out driving 
with her friend, Miss Snicker. Pipe saw them approaching, 
and when he discovered indications that they intended to stop 


94 


AN IRON CROWN. 


he flew into the house in breathless haste to inform his moth- 
er. That female was in the rear room, with sleeves rolled up 
and hands in the wash-tub. Pipe’s excitement was so great 
that he was for a few seconds unable to utter a word. Mrs. 
Malley had seen him several times before in this condition, 
which had been occasioned by his choking when a rapid con- 
sumption of food was imperatively demanded, lest Quill 
should get more than his share. Pipe’s organs of deglutition 
were slightly defective owing to some fault of nature, while 
Quill’s were abnormally vigorous. Mrs. Malley’s remedy 
was a sound shaking. She seized Pipe without ceremony by 
the collar, and gave him such an exceedingly lively shaking 
that his face grew scarlet in a short time. 

“ Can I teach ye no manners?” (another shake). “ What’s 
the use of eatin’ like a pig?” (more shaking). “ Ye haven’t 
the throat of a allergater to swally stuff in chunks” (another 

“ Lem’me go, I say.” 

V Is it out ?” 

“ Wot’s the matter with yer? I wasn’t swallern’ any- 
thing, ’’said Pipe indignantly, as he wiped soapsuds from his 
eyes and face. “ Yer a little too suddint.” 

“What ails ye, Pipey honey?” said Mrs. Malley sooth- 
ingiy. 

“ Nothin’ ! I come to tell yer my Sunday-school teacher is 
cornin’ to visit us.” 

“Yer don’t say, Pipe! Is she truly? Don’t tell your 
mother a story.” 

“ She’s jist druv into the upper end of the street.” 

Mrs. Malley rushed into the front “parlor,” and, sure 
enough, a phaeton stood in front of the house. The two 
young ladies in it were evidently inquiring of some children 
the whereabouts of some person they wished to see. Mrs’ 
Malley now in turn fell into a condition of extreme excite- 
ment. Here was unexpected company of a very high order, 
and everything in confusion. But Mrs. Malley was a captain, 
equal to such a surprise. She ordered Pipe to gather up the 
soiled linen which strewed the floor, together with old news- 
papers in which the articles had been wrapped. These were 
hastily dumped into the back room. Mrs. Malley seized a 
broom and vigorously swept up the ashes round the little 
grate. This operation which had not been performed for a 
twelvemonth from appearance, was done with amazing dis- 



AN IRON CROWN. 


95 


patch and accompanied by a cloud of dust and ashes. On 
the narrow mantel-shelf was a little clock flanked on either 
side by pipes, belonging to Mrs. M alley, little tobacco sacks 
in different stages of depletion, matches, a broken comb 
“ done up” by Pipe, a little box of spools, buttons, etc., and 
a great deal of dirt. It was impossible to bring order out of 
this chaos in a moment. So at one fell swoop, Mrs. Malley 
brushed everything but the clock into her apron and carried 
them to the back room. 

“ Pipe, where’s the Bible the teacher give ye? Put that 
on the mantel.” The volume was produced from a cupboard, 
and Mrs. Malley was in the last stages of “ putting things to 
rights,” namely polishing with her apron the only two chairs 
of four, which, though very decrepit, were able for duty. In 
the prevailing excitement she had forgotten to turn down her 
sleeves till reminded by Pipe: 

“ Mother, mother, unroll them sleeves down.” There 
was a knocking at the door, and the bustle within subsided 
instantly into a dignified decorum. Mrs. Malley called out, 
“Come in,” but after a pause the knock was repeated. “Come 
in” was the answer this time, loud enough to be heard in the 
street. In the society in which Mrs. Malley moved, it was 
not customary to open the door for a visitor. The genteel 
thing was to await him within in dignified expectation. Miss 
Ingledee opened the door and entered, followed by Harrie 
Snicker. Mrs. Malley, with the cordiality which is so marked 
a characteristic of her race, greeted her visitors with a hearty 
shake of the hand. Her language had in it so little of the 
brogue of the Emerald Isle as to be scarcely noticeable. 

“How do ye do, Miss Ingledee ? I’m real glad ye’ve called.” 

“ I’m very well, thank you. This is my friend, Miss 
Snicker, Mrs. Malley.” 

The big red hand of Mrs. Malley reached out and grasped 
heartily the delicate right hand of Miss Snicker, to the great 
surprise of that young lady. It was as yielding and expres- 
sionless as pie dough, and when released by Mrs. Malley fell 
limp by the owner’s side; Miss Snicker’s little nose, however, 
protested slightly against the indignity put upon her hand by 
seeking a loftier altitude. 

“ It’s not every day I has company, an’ things may be a 
trifle out o’ order. Ye can’t always have things as trig as a 
tay rose,” said the hostess, glancing around her shabby little 
room apologetically. 


9 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Indeed, you look very cosy here, Mrs. Malley.” 

“We get along, somehow. It’s a hard scrabble for the 
poor, ma’am, an’ God bless ye ladies for remembering them. 
Won’t ye be seated, ladies?” 

The visitors excused themselves on the ground that they 
had not time to tarry. It is a noticeable fact that the million- 
aire may be so exceedingly busy doing nothing as to find 
himself crowded for time, the same as a poor man. During 
these preliminaries of conversation Pipe had been in the back 
room. The boldest boys among their companions are often 
the most bashful at home. The boy who will lead a raid on 
a melon patch, or aspire to be the hero of the Fourth of July 
by climbing a greased pole before a thousand people, will slip 
into the house the back way, when his mother has company. 
When asked to go into the parlor he looks very much like a 
chicken thief detected in the act. Eating in company is to 
him a miserable delusion. Though he have the appetite of a 
shark, as he always does, he has been known to insult his 
stomach with bread crusts and a glass of stale water rather 
than ask for more. On the occasion of a rural tea the old 
ladies are so immersed in the latest gossip as to forget all 
about the boy who is so unfortunate to eat with the “ com- 
pany.” A second tea along with the hired girl is the result. 
He is not used to high living, and the unusual spread is a 
feast. He checks his hunger with substantiate of bread, but- 
ter, potatoes and chicken, washed down by four cups of coffee. 
He evens up with half an apple pie, country apple pie, at that, 
half a custard pie, and a plate of rice pudding. He tops off 
with two saucers of preserved peaches, a saucer of jelly, all 
the cream there was left from the first table — and a colic at 
ten that night. A tea is a rare event for the country boy. 
Pipe would have been that sort of a boy, had he lived in the 
country. His mother called: 

“Pipe, come in. Your teacher is here.” The latter 
information was a piece of strategy by way of apology for 
his non-appearence. Pipe came in sheepishly, with Quill at 
his heels, the latter having sold his “ Heralses ” in time to be 
in at this great social event. Chetta greeted them cordially, 
and somehow they felt at ease under the influence of her 
unaffected, winning manner. 

“ How are you, Pipe? Come in, Quill.” 

“I’m all O K,” said Pipe. Quill said nothing. Since 
Pipe was the twin, there seemed to be an understanding that 
his answer sufficed for both. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


97 


“ You know I promised you a call, boys.” 

“ I was afeerd you’d forgit it. This hain’t as nice a street 
as them avenoos.” There was a volume of philosophy in 
Pipe’s simple remark which Chetta did not fail to perceive. 

“Pipe, you know I promised.” 

“ So you did, an’ I guess you ain’t the forgittin’ kind.” 
Chetta smiled, and turning to her friend, said: u Harrie, I 
haven’t introduced you yet, excuse me. These are Pipe and 
Quill Maliey, the boys you have heard me mention so often.” 
The boys made their usual awkward attempt at a bow, but 
Miss Snicker made no sign of recognition whatever beyond 
a slightly increased elevation of her little nose, whose angle 
with the perpendicular had been growing ever since her arri- 
val. She eyed them with a faintly curious stare, as she would 
any other curiosity which she had heard considerable about. 
It was evident she saw nothing in the twins. They were 
very common , so was Mrs. Maliey, so were the surroundings. 
The only uncommon thing that she could discover was that 
Chetta Ingledee should visit such a place at all, or ask her 
friend to do so. She inquired: 

“ Hadn’t we better be going?” 

“Yes, I think so.” 

“ I’m dreadful glad you took hold of my boys,” said Mrs. 
Maliey. She meant the verb hold in a figurative sense. She 
reserved the literal for herself. “ I couldn’t edicate them as 
I’d like, for as I said, it’s a hard scrabble for the poor, and 
close fit to go to school isn’t easy got, an’ poor close doesn’t 
look well beside fine ones. They read beootilul in their 
Bibles,” she added with pride, pointing to the lonesome Tes- 
tament on the shelf. “ Pipe used to have to spell every word, 
and sometimes bit his tongue dreadful when vexed. Now he 
kin go clean through a chapter, an’ never open his mouth.” 
This was no small compliment, for to “ go through” a chap- 
ter without moving the lips is a triumph in the art of silent 
reading which many very respectable people have never 
achieved. Mrs. Maliey was anxious that everything should 
show to the advantage of her boys on this momentous 
occasion. 

The reading of the twins, one would infer from her 
remarks, was chiefly Biblical. Facts compel an admission 
that this was not the case. After learning to read, the boys, 
as a matter of course, became acquainted with that remark- 
able production of literature, the dime novel, if such trash 


7 


AN IRON CROWN. 


98 

may be called literature. They had procured one highly- 
seasoned volume called “ Red-handed Hank, or the Des- 
perado of Dead Man’s Gulch.” Mrs. Malley’s ideas of 
family government were exceedingly liberal. In this respect, 
indeed, she was thoroughly American, for there was next to 
no family government in her establishment, except on rare 
occasions of flagrant misdemeanor. She had her reasons for 
this state of affairs in the fact that her family needed little 
government; “ for sure the boys couldn’t injure anything but 
theirselves, an’ they might look out for that.” 

On one point she was particular: they must be in bed at 
ten o’clock. Sound rest she found indispensable to her ardu- 
ous labor at the wash-tub. The twins thought night was the 
best time for literary diversion. Probably it added a weird 
effect to the gore which figuratively streaked the pages of 
“ Red-handed Hank.” Pipe soon hit on a plan to circum- 
vent the old lady. After she was sound asleep, the twins 
stole from their bed, kindled a little fire in the grate, and, 
prone on their stomachs, absorbed the thrilling story of u Red- 
handed Hank.” The fire was carefully fed by one boy, 
while the other read. The fuel was thin slips of cannel coal 
stolen from a neighboring coal yard. They read night about. 
Silent reading was here a necessity, and thus it was achieved. 
Truly the pursuit of literature is often attended with great 
difficulties. 

Miss Harrie Snicker was growing impatient at the length 
to which the visit was stretching itself out. Chetta, seeing 
this, remarked : 

“ Really, we must be going, Mrs. Malley.” 

The hostess seemed uneasy. After some hesitation she 
said : “ I’d invite you to tay, ladies, if I was a little better 
fixed. But things is a little unhandy like just now.” 

With thanks Chetta bade them a kind good-day, and the 
visitors took their leave. The Malleys were overwhelmed 
and delighted at such a great social event, which was remem- 
bered for years as a chronological era. Other events in the 
flight of time were located so long before or so long after 
Miss Ingledee came on a visit. 

Miss Harrie Snicker was not quite happy. Her mind 
was troubled lest she had done something common . This 
imaginary alarm was soon displaced by a real one. As they 
turned out of the narrow street on their way up town, they 
saw ahead a runaway horse hitched to an express wagon. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


99 


He was tearing down the street at a frightful pace, and people 
were scampering for dear life. Harrie, in an agony of fear 
uttered a shriek of alarm. Chetta knew she could rely on 
her cool-headed little pony, and with steady arm attempted 
to turn him quickly toward the sidewalk, thus giving the 
runaway plenty of room. To her horror her companion 
sprang from the phaeton directly in the track of the runaway, 
and stood immovable as a statue, but screaming with fright. 

Her cries attracted the attention of a foppishly-dressed 
young man who happened to be passing. . He dropped his 
cane and sprang to her rescue, dragging her away just in the 
nick of time. The frightened horse swerved to avoid her, 
this movement causing the wagon to swing round from a 
straight course. It struck the young man, upsetting him full 
in the muddy gutter, and bruising him considerably. Miss 
Harrie escaped uninjured, but her rescuer presented a rueful 
appearance as he picked himself out of the mud. His stylish 
low-crowned hat was ruined. A hub of the wagon had 
struck him, making a long, dingy streak of axle-grease on his 
light pants. He had been thrown so violently as to burst 
his neat-fitting coat at the shoulders. Black, slimy mud from 
the gutter completed the ruin. 

As soon as Miss Snicker had recovered her scattered 
senses, she gave a little scream of surprise. The gentleman 
was Mr. Bradley, an intimate friend of hers, and an admirer. 

u Oh, Mr. Bradley, protect me. I’m so nervous I can 
hardly stand.” Her appeal was rather tardy, seeing that all 
danger was past. u Oh, I shall faint.” 

“ I think there is no further danger just now,” said Brad- 
ley, looking ruefully at his ruined clothes. 

“I’m glad you think so. Take me home to pa. What 
would have happened if you had not come to my rescue? ” 
“You would have been run over most likely,” coolly 
replied Chetta, who sat in the phaeton, smiling in spite of 
herself at the ludicrous side of the accident. 

“ Oh, don’t say it! That would have been really awful,” 
said Harrie with a shudder. 

Mr. Bradley bowed to Miss Ingledee with the best grace 
a man can muster in the presence of a charming young lady 
when he is spattered with mud from head to foot, his coat 
nearly ripped from his back, axle grease on his pants, and 
his hat a shapeless wreck. Chetta returned his greeting with 
a few words of real sympathy. 


lOO 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“You have performed a heroic act at great personal 
danger, Mr. Bradley. I really hope you are not seriously in- 
jured.” 

“ Nothing but a lively shaking up and a few slight bruises 
I believe,” replied Bradley, trying to look unconcerned. 

“ I’m so sorry,” exclaimed Harrie Snicker, “ and I thank 
you so much. It is too bad, I declare. Why, your coat is 
ripped, and there is grease on” — she came very near saying 
pants, but dexterously steered clear of what would in her 
mind have been a very indelicate allusion, and said — “ on your 
hat.” 

Bradley, trying unsuccessfully to appear indifferent, said it 
was nothing. In reality it was to him a great deal. He was 
on a salary of twenty dollers per week, one-half of which was 
necessary to procure respectable board and lodging. A new 
suit meant a great deal to him. He was one of those resolute 
young men of the present day who have in their hearts a 
great purpose. He was trying to enter good society, and 
maintain on a meager stipend a precarious foothold among 
people who had plenty of money, not only to spend but to 
throw away. He was endeavoring to determine by continu- 
ous experiment how many nice young ladies he could get 
acquainted with, how many round dances he could accom- 
plish, how many late suppers he could devour, how much 
frivolity and shallow experiences he could undergo short of 
physical exhaustion and mental stagnation. This, with the 
maintenance of a good shape and a pink complexion, consti- 
tuted the great purpose to which he was heroically devoted. 
One of the episodes in this purpose was his acquaintance with 
Miss Harrie Snicker. As a little knot of spectators had 
gathered at the scene of the accident the ladies deemed it best 
to withdraw. Bradley assisted Miss Snicker into the phaeton 
and they were off. 

“I’m sorry for him,” said Chetta, “his clothes are com- 
pletely ruined.” 

“ I’m sorry, too; but wasn’t it just too funny? ” 

“ It would not have been very funny if you had been run 
over.” 

“Oh, I didn’t mean that! But wasn’t it too comical to 
see him sprawling on all fours and his hat spinning on the 
sidewalk.” 

“ Harrie, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to make 
fun of a man who has done you such a great service.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


IOI 


“ I can’t help laughing. Of course I know it was real 
nice of him to do it.” Had he rescued her from the sixth 
story of a burning building it would have been in Harrie 
Snicker’s eyes simply nice . She could discern nothing brave 
or heroic in this world any more than she could touch any- 
thing common. Chetta drove Harrie home and then returned 
to her own. To her surprise she found Silas in the house. 
Remembering she had been remiss in sisterly duties, she de- 
termined to have a serious talk with her brother at once, the 
first she had ever attempted. 


CHAPTER X. 

MR. INGLEDEE ATTEMPTS TO READ HIS FAMILY A LESSON 

ON SOCIAL DUTIES. 

In pursuance of this intention Chetta went up stairs 
and knocked at the door of her brother’s sitting room, which 
he facetiously called his study. There were books lying 
around the room plentifully, but they were not of the kind 
that required study, being exclusively light literature. On 
the wall hung a lithograph of the Ingledee steam yacht. 
There were pictures of fast trotters and of mythological 
females in scanty drapery. Statuettes and various brie a-brac 
were strewn around promiscuously, together with numerous 
fancy pipes, cigar holders, whips, and suspicious looking bot- 
tles of various shapes and sizes, some very stout and fat, and 
others very slender. In truth, the young man had never 
done an hour’s study since leaving college two years before. 
His career at the University terminated rather abruptly in his 
sophomore year, owing to his having engaged in some play- 
ful pastimes denominated hazing. This scandalous relic of 
barbarism was just to the taste of the young man and his 
reckless companions. Unfortunately it did not agree so well 
with the victim, who was crippled for life. In consequence, 
the participants in this lively amusement were “ rusticated,” 
civil proceedings instituted by the victim’s father, and the 
matter finally settled by a handsome sum paid in hand to the 
injured young man by the fathers of the playful young men 
who originated the sport. 


102 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“Hello, Chet, is that you?” he exclaimed, in genuine sur- 
prise, for this brother and sister were in fact almost strangers 
to each other. 

“ Of course it is. Can’t you see? ” she replied, dropping 
into a chair. 

“What do you want? ” 

“ Nothing; come to visit you, that’s all.” 

“ Well, that knocks me out in one round.” 

“ What? ” 

“ The idea.” 

“ What idea? ” 

“ Why your coming to see me, hang it.” 

“ I’m welcome, I suppose? ” 

“ Of course, Chet; you’re always welcome,” he replied 
heartily. “ Make yourself at home. How d’ye like the pic- 
tures? Things are a little bit shaken up here. Got some 
good books if you’d like to read them.” 

“ No, thank you, brother. I’m reading ‘Prescott’s Con- 
quest of Mexico ’ in the library.” 

“Well now, I am done up completely.” 

“ What do you mean, Silas?” 

✓“ Why, the idea of your reading such books. I don’t 
read them if I know it.” 

“ Don’t you think it would be nice to take one evening a 
week and read with me? We could explain to each other, 
you know.” Silas stared with incredulous astonishment. 

“Chet, are you out of your head? I never heard of such 
a thing in all my life.” 

“ There’s nothing very extraordinary in reading one even- 
ing per week, is there? ” 

“It’s wasting one evening per week so far as I am con- 
cerned. I’m too busy for that.” 

“What busies you?” 

“Why society, of course. A fellow must keep in the 
swim or drop out altogether.” 

“Pshaw! You can go when you choose and stay when 
you choose, but if I had to make a ninny of myself by going, 
I should say drop out.” 

“ Sister, you are out of your head.” 

Chetta, unheeding his manner, went on: “ Silas, don’t you 
think it would be better for you if you gave up some of 
your associations? ” 

“ Now, see here, that is just what father has been preach- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I0 3 


ing. Don’t you begin it, for it will do no good. I intend to 
have a good time, and when I get ready I’ll settle down of my 
own accord.” 

“ When you get ready may be too late.” 

u It is never too late to do good.” 

This old maxim just suited the present need of the young 
man, though in his case it was a very black lie. He forgot 
that the sweetest grass grows in the spring, that the morning 
sun is full of life, that youth paints a picture to. gladden old 
age or plunge it in remorse. 

On this particular afternoon Mr. Ingledee happened to 
leave his office early, and learned that his children were both 
at home. He sent a servant to call them to his own cosv 
reading room. He was pleased to see them together. His 
daughter was evidently carrying out his instructions. Had he 
been as wise in these little details of family management as he 
was in mere money getting, he might have seen that this tiny 
germ of friendship between his children was too feeble 
to bear any forcing. Left to itself it might develop into a 
haTdy plant. Any forcing process might smother it effec- 
tually. He greeted them cheerfully. 

“Ah, my children, we shall have a family reunion, 
something that doesn’t o^cur now very often, I’m sorry to 
say.” 

“ Yes, somehow this family fails to connect,” said Silas, in 
a careless, flippant tone, which he made no effort to correct in 
the presence of his father and sister. 

“ I hope we shall improve in that respect. Chetta, what 
do you say to having more company here? ” 

“Anything you wish, papa.” 

“ I vote that a bore,” said Silas; “ I want some place where 
I can be quiet now and then.” 

“We should have quiet company,” said Mr. Ingledee in a 
tone of mild rebuke. 

“ The greater the bore then.” 

“You might,” continued Mr. Ingledee, addressing Chetta, 
“ have a card party or something of the sort occasionally. 
Those small informal parties are to my mind the most delight- 
ful features of social life.” 

“ But deucedly stupid,” said Silas. 

Without noticing Silas’s implied sneer, Mr. Ingledee 
continued : 

“ There are abundant materials at hand of course. For 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I04 

example, the Nor wells, the Snickers, the Aplingtons, the 
Brownells.” 

“ You couldn’t find a more stupid lot,” said Silas. 

“Why brother! What an idea. The Norwells are very 
superior people, and the Snickers — ” 

“ Are a set of conceited idiots.” 

“ They are eminently respectable people, and move in the 
best circles,” said Mr. Ingledee. “As for the Norwells, there 
is not a family in the city that has a better position in society. 
Their standing is the best; they are well educated and re- 
fined. They have abundant means to gratify their tastes.” 

This encomium, the more significant as it was unusual on 
the part of Mr. Ingledee, gave Chetta a thrill of delight. She 
had long hoped to be able to have Tom Norwell as a recog- 
nized lover. But, somehow, in spite of their extended and 
intimate acquaintance, things made no apparent progress in 
that direction. Here was a substantial and unexpected recog- 
nition of an acquaintance, which she had heretofore feared 
had not the hearty approval of her father. She wa^only too 
glad to acquiesce in the paternal suggestion. Had Mr. Ingle- 
dee stopped here all might have been well. But he had 
neglected his family so long that he felt there was lost time 
to be made up. As is usual in such cases, his zeal carried him 
too far. Glancing at the clock, he remarked to Chetta that 
it was time for her to dress for dinner. She at once withdrew, 
suspecting he had something to say to Silas. 

“Silas, I should like to see you a little oftener. Really, 
we are scarcely acquainted . 5 9 

“ You can always see me by appointment, you know.” 
This word appointment applied to the family relation had in 
it such a suggestion of utter indifference that a great pain filled 
the father’s heart. He dearly loved this son who was every- 
thing to him. He had toiled like a slave for this boy, and 
lavished upon him everything which wealth could buy. The 
son took it all as a matter of course, but had nothing to give 
in return. Mr. Ingledee suddenly realized a great want in 
his existence, a void which his millions could not fill. 
He felt in an instant that, having won a thousand battles in 
life, he had lost the greatest of them all in failing to win the 
obedience of his son. But pride enabled him to conceal his 
wounded feelings. 

“ Do you not think it well, Silas, for us to meet occasion- 
ally other than by accident or appointment ? ” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I0 5 

“ Possibly. But the fact is, my time is all taken up, and 
I suppose yours is, too. Really, I think there would be a 
great saving in appointments.” 

Mr. Ingledee saw at once that it was useless to pursue 
that subject. If he could not have a spontaneous offering of 
love he would see whether he could have obedience. 

“Silas, I hope you will encourage your sister’s efforts in a 
social direction by your presence.” 

“ I encouraged her by four hours’ presence at her ball, 
and missed in consequence some rare shooting with some par- 
ticular friends. Lost the whole trip we had planned. Wasn’t 
that something? ” He spoke in an injured tone as if he had 
endured martyrdom on the occasion referred to. 

“ That was your duty, my son. These lesser social oc- 
casions may be made a real pleasure.” 

“ They are awfully dull. Regular tea-party people who 
say and do stupid things.” 

u Silas, your flippancy scarcely becomes you.” 

“ F ather, I am not flippant. I do think those small par- 
ties a bore.” 

“ That is because you have not learned to appreciate good 
society. Social intercourse with people of refinement and 
culture is certainly a desirable thing for any young man who 
wishes to improve his mind and his manners. For example, 
the Norwells are very interesting people. Miss Alice Nor- 
well is a charming young lady.” 

“ Rather precise.” 
u But intelligent.” 

“ And peculiar. Ought to wear bloomers, and that sort 
of thing.” 

“ Don’t speak disrespectfully of mv friends, sir! ” 

“ Aren’t your friends subject to criticism like other peo- 
ple? If they are not, don’t put them in the way. I prefer to 
select my own friends.” 

The conversation had drifted into a very dangerous chan- 
nel. When Roker had cunningly suggested that Mr. Ingle- 
dee should select a wife for Silas, he knew that such a pro- 
ceeding would inevitably cause a breach between father and 
son. Silas suspected such an intention on the part of his fath- 
er, and promptly resented it. In extolling Miss Norwell’s ac- 
complishments, the father, in fact, had no idea of recommend- 
ing her to his son as a suitable wife. He thought of her as a 
sensible, refined woman. Association with such women 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 06 

would greatly improve his son. The advantages accruing 
to her from such association were not apparent, but like many 
parents in such cases where worthless sons are to be saved ( ?) 
he did not consider that side of the question. He ignored the 
fact that sugar and vinegar nrake no cider, and the sugar is 
lost, too. After a moment’s pause, during which Silas toyed 
rather impatiently with his watch chain, the father asked: 

“ Have you thought any more about going into the office?” 
u It is my intention to do so ultimately.” 
u Silas, it takes years to learn business and acquire busi- 
ness habits. Meantime, if anything should happen to me 
you should be able to take charge of our large interests.” 
u In that case I should retire from business.” 
u Why?” asked Mr. Ingledee, with secret alarm. 

M Well, the fact is, the people are suspicious of Wall 
street. They consider it dangerous and a public nuisance.” 

“ What!” exclaimed Mr. Ingledee, in astonishment, “do 
you mean to say that you consider Wall street a nuisance? ” 

“ I said nothing of the sort. I only repeated what the 
public already thinks, as you are doubtless aware.” 

“ I am surprised at your paying any attention to such idle 
remarks.” 

“ Please do not misunderstand me, father. Some people 
think it would be much better for the country if the stock- 
gambling crowd in Wall street were wiped out of existence. 
My individual opinion, doubtless, is of no consequence what- 
ever. But as our money was all made there, I shall not go 
back on the street,” saying which he rose to dress for dinner. 

“ Oh, certainly not. Our interests are there. To do so 
would be madness.” 

Mr. Ingledee was greatly relieved to think that his son 
was sound on this one point at least. Silas went up stairs to 
liis apartments. Mr. Ingledee, with a worn expression which 
he had exhibited at times lately, sat with his head resting on 
his hand. For the first time in his life the railway king was 
foiled. For the first time he knew a great and grievous dis- 
appointment. 

On this same day Mr. Norwell called at Ophir’s office to 
inquire how the Continental & Pacific was getting along. He 
was in high spirits. Mr. Ophir was also in a buoyant frame 
of mind. He ceased reading some important letters to greet 
his old friend cordially. 

“ Everything is working splendidly. Sawder is confident 


AN IRON CROWN. 




\ 


107 


we shall succeed. He has lately had a conference with Sena- 
tor Sublet, who has charge of the Senate for our bill. Sublet 
says the bill can be rushed through sometime during the last 
month of the session.” Ophir spoke of Sublet having charge 
of the United States Senate much as if that august body had 
been a traveling minstrel troupe or a circus. He might have 
said, with more modesty, that Sublet had charge of the bill in 
the Senate. Instead, he merely, as was habitual with him, 
said that Sublet had charge of the Senate. This mighty 
Sublet was vigorously seconded by the almighty dollar which 
strictly speaking, had charge of the bill. As Ophir knew 
where the dollars came from, he had no reason to speak doubt- 
fully, or with indifference.* A single dollar is modest, a mil- 
lion bold, fifty millions shameless; hence, there was no ques- 
tion about the bill going through. 

44 As you perceive,” continued Ophir, 44 the stock has ad- 
vanced two points this week. It will soon reach par.” 

44 I am well satisfied with it,” observed Mr. Norwell. He 
could not well be otherwise. He held ten thousand shares 
bought at fifty-five. In one month it had risen six cents on 
the dollar. With every cent advance he made ten thousand 
dollars. From a financial point of view it was certainly a 
good thing. 

44 Are you quite sure there is no doubt about securing the 
necessary legislation? ” 

“None whatever,” said Ophir, with a contemptuous 
laugh. 44 Why, you see, Norwell, most of the men in Con- 
gress who have the brains or the influence to endanger the 
bill, are friends of the measure. Oakesworth has seen them, 
and I am told he uses very convincing arguments.” He did 
not add that the convincing arguments were in the tangible 
shape of stock in the u Credit Construction Company ” that 
paid fabulous dividends monthly and cleared some forty mil- 
lions in building this 44 great public necessity, the 44 Conti- 
nental & Pacific Railway.” f 

44 But the newspapers?” 

44 Well, the big editors have been silenced either by the 
same process or by the party whip. Some have relations in 
office, others want relatives put into office. As for the small- 
fry editor, he isn’t posted, any way. The Continental and 
Pacific amended bill will be urged as a party measure, 


*See Note 3. — Corruption money. 


fSee Note 1. — Credit Mobilier swindle. 


io8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


and, of course, most people think their party can do no 
wrong.” 

“ It seems to be a reasonably sure thing.” 

“ It’s dead sure. I wish I could control more of it. But 
it is a great interest and requires heavy backing.” 

Considering the fact that the government was expected to 
build these roads and virtually present them to Ophir, Ingle- 
dee, and a few others, it would seem as if the backing was 
very good. At a later period, when these unscrupulous men, 
realizing what they could do with impunity, had determined 
to “gobble” everything, Mr. Norwell would not have been 
offered any such golden opportunities to make money. 

“ Norwell, I can let you have some more if you will take 
it at once. A certain heavy capitalist wanted forty thousand 
shares reserved for him, but he now declines to take the 
stock.” 

“ Can I have it at the original fifty-five?” 

“ Couldn’t possibly do that, even for an old friend. Why, 
it’s quoted to-day at sixty-one.” 

“ I’ll take it,” said Mr. Norwell, after figuring a few min- 
utes. “ Forty thousand shares will require an advance of two 
hundred thousand dollars.” 

“ Yes.” 

c I’ll draw my check now.” 

Stupendous as this transaction was, it will appear more 
clearly in its true light by the aid of a little figuring. Air. 
Norwell now owned fifty thousand shares of Continental and 
Pacific stock, or a par value of five million dollars. Every 
time his stock advanced one cent on the dollar he would clear 
fifty thousand dollars. For every cent decline he would lose 
a similar amount. A decline of twenty cents on the dollar 
would cause a loss of one million dollars, a sum which may 
easily wipe out a fortune of twice or thrice that amount in 
case of sudden demands for ready cash. Norwell was called 
a cool-headed business man, yet he had converted safe prop- 
erty into unsafe. He was in the condition of a man who 
spreads his couch on a large chest of dynamite and lies down 
to pleasant dreams. So long as there is no violent shock he 
is safe, and sleeps as soundly as in a feather bed. But a sud- 
den jar, a mighty explosion, a rain of wreck, a dazed com- 
munity, and all is over. 


CHAPTER XI. 


“ OUT WEST.” RURAL AMUSEMENTS. 

It is near the holidays, and the broad prairies of Illinois 
are covered with a glistening mantle of snow that is crisp and 
ringing with the frost. A stinging Dakota' blizzard from 
what some wag has facetiously termed the banana belt, has 
raged for three days. During those trying days the ther- 
mometer dropped to thirty degrees below zero Fahrenheit. 
The air was filled with a cutting mist of frost crystals, mov- 
ing at the rate of forty to fifty miles per hour. The best 
built houses fail to keep out this icy fluid, which penetrates 
the thickest clothing to the very marrow in the bones. 

The ruddy glow of a huge stove, filled with anthracite at 
red heat, gives an appearance of comfort to the cosy par- 
lor. But the appearance is decejDtive, for the searching wind 
which has chased the skurrying snow over a thousand miles 
of unbroken prairie, causes a sense of chill within a few feet 
of the stove with its fiery interior. The human beings who 
are obliged to stir about at such a time are coated, mittened 
and wrapped till they resemble animated bundles of woolens. 
Cold iron burns the skin with a sensation exactly similar to 
that caused by hot iron. Wagon wheels creak and screech 
with a shrill sound to be heard for a mile. Car wheels have 
a ringing, rasping squeak that sends a shudder through the 
unfortunate passenger who is obliged to travel in such weather. 

The blizzard has subsided. On every hand stretches the 
snowy ocean of prairie from Indiana to the Rocky Mount- 
ains. The prairie is a m} r stery. No one knows just how it 
came. It is an ocean arrested in the act of undulation. The 
sea is by turn solemn or full of danger. The lofty mountain 
oppresses by its sublimity. The prairie now smiling, now 
bleak, is ever full of wild beauty and inviting mystery. Man 
has dotted it with farmhouses, villages and cities, marring 
one beauty, adding another. Nature decks it in beautiful 
flowers in season or robes it with a mantle of golden grain. 
It is the garden of the world and the paradise of the farmer. 

(109) 


no 


AN IRON CROWN. 


On a crisp, pleasant day, late in December, Tom Norwell 
stepped from a Pullman car at a small way station in Illinois. 
Around the little pine depot were the usual number of boys 
and loungers, some waiting the arrival of the mail, some 
with no business. As the postmaster picked up the mail 
sack which was tossed on the platform, Norwell accosted 
him : 

u Do you know a Mr. Bryce?” 
u First rate.” 

“ Where does he live?” 

“ Out north four miles. Take the road due north to the 
Bryce schoolhouse, then go a mile west.” So saying he 
shouldered the mail sack and walked away. 

Tom was somewhat taken back at the curt manner in 
which this man had answered his questions. The brief re- 
plies were right to the point and yet they were far from sat- 
isfactory. I challenge the world to produce a better man 
than the average American. He is active, industrious, honest, 
manly. He is hospitable, courteous to women, and no stickler 
about trifles. He never quarrels over a nickel, and this, in 
some things, renders him easily imposed on because he is 
ashamed to appear small in anything. But you must under- 
stand him and know how to get at him before all of these 
qualities are apparent. Pie has no meaningless profusion of 
politeness for either friend or stranger, like that of the bow- 
ing Frenchman, the dignified Spaniard, or the crafty Oriental. 
He will answer a question briefly, perhaps, if he is in a hurry, 
gruffly, and go about his business, expecting you to do the 
same. His hospitality, unless he is a Southerner, is not very 
apparent on the surface, but the genuine article is a part of his 
very nature. When he gets better acquainted with you and 
finds that you are really worth becoming his friend, he in- 
vites you into his house to associate freely with his family, 
and spares no pains to make you comfortable. He and his 
will undergo almost any inconvenience that the guest may 
enjoy himself. 

Tom Norwell, though brought up in an American city, 
and priding himself on being an American, knew little more 
of rural life in this country than he did of life in China. He 
had expected some one to meet him at the train, for he had 
written Wilson informing him which train he would arrive 
on. This was indeed a chilly reception. He asked a boy: 

“ What is the best way to get to Bryce’s?” 


AN IKON CROWN. 


I I I 


44 Hire a rig, I guess.” Another boy spoke up at this 
juncture, saying that Mr. Bryce was in town. 

“ I’ll show you where he is. You can go out with him.” 
Just then a farmer appeared around the corner and the boy 
added, 44 There he is now.” 

44 Be you the gentleman from New York cornin’ to visit 
Mr. Wilson?” 

44 I am. My name is Norwell.” 

44 And mine is Bryce.” 

A hearty shake of the hand followed. Mr. Bryce was a 
large, well-built, ruddy-faced man, with pleasant blue eyes 
and shaggy, light-colored whiskers. He wore an immense 
overcoat, which had seen much service, coarse cassimere 
clothing, heavy, thick-soled boots, a fur cap and enormous 
buckskin driving gloves, with well-worn fur tops. In his 
hand he carried a whip. 

44 Come right along,” he said, seizing Tom’s satchel. 
44 Been waitin’ fur 'you.- Team’s up in town.” Mr. Bryce 
led the way to the conveyance, which consisted of a wagon 
body mounted on bob sleds. 44 Get right in. Gyep, there!” 
and away they went at a rattling trot. The sleighing was 
superb except when they were obliged to flounder out of the 
beaten track to let teams they met go by. Mr. Bryce made 
it a point never to allow anybody to pass him from behind. 
They spun merrily along, the farmer talking incessantly. 
They passed an occasional farmhouse, but otherwise the 
road ran straight as a die through a monotonous waste of 
snow-covered prairie. It was a vast deserted avenue bounded 
by miles of unsightly wire fence inclosing fields, each of 
which, as Bryce remarked, would make a farm down East. 
Had it not been for the occasional buildings and the intermi- 
liable wire fences one could easily haVe imagined himself on 
a frozen sea, for not a tree was near nor a living thing to 
break the stillness of a Northwestern winter. Away to the 
north might be seen a belt of scraggy timber. In a very 
short time the four miles were done, and Mr. Bryce drew up 
before his own door. 

The house was a large, two-story frame structure with 
the side facing the road, and a one-story kitchen forming an 
L, In front were evergreen trees and a gravel walk. The 
house was painted white, after the ufcual fashion of the coun- 
try. In the rear were the capacious barn, corn crib and other 
outbuildings. Several sleek cows took advantage of the 


I I 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


winter’s sun by standing very close to the warm pine boards 
on the south side of the barn. A herd of big fat hogs 
munched corn or rooted lazily in a rear lot. The barnyard 
fowls pecked carelessly in the litter, or, perching on a board 
fence, sunned themselves and dressed their plumage. Occa- 
sionally an aggressive bird, after a fashion sometimes set by 
its human fellows, gave a neighbor an unmerciful peck 
which resulted in much noise and some feathers. A large 
wood shed, joined to the rear of the kitchen, was abundantly 
stored with coal and wood. On one side of this shed was an 
immense binful of corn cobs for kindling. Frequently the 
golden corn itself had been used for fuel, as cheaper than 
either wood or coal. The whole scene indicated the home of 
a well-to-do, enterprising Illinois farmer. Tom was met at 
the gate by his friend Wilson, who took him into the house. 

“ Go right in, and make yourself at home,” said Mr. 
Bryce. “I’ve no end of chores to do. You’ll have to take 
things as you ketch ’em here, I guess.” In such a comfor- 
table place you might take things as you caught them and 
find them excellent too. 

“ I’ll come out and help you with the chores,” said Wil- 
son. It was Saturday, and there was no school. 

“ No you won’t, I reckon. You stay right in the house 
and talk with your friend. You see, to-morrow’s Sunday, 
an’ that’s about the best chance Til have at him. So I’il 
count on to-morrow for my turn.” 

“All right,” said Wilson, and they went into the house. 
Tom was duly introduced to Mrs. Bryce and the daughter, 
May Bryce, an only child. Mrs. Bryce greeted the guest 
cordially; the daughter was shy but not awkward. 

“ Take your friend into the parlor, Mr. Wilson, and enter- 
tain him. May and I have to make preparations for Sun- 
day.” These preparations consisted in making unlimited pies, 
cookies, and fried cakes and in dressing a pair of fine chick- 
ens for Sunday dinner. These occupations are often if not 
generally the most refining within the sphere of the farmer’s 
wife. Added to them are usually an “ old settler’s” meeting 
once a year, the county fair, one picnic and a few visits. As 
a rule she gets so little time for reading that she loses the 
capacity for it, or what is worse, the desire did she possess 
the books, which she does not as a general thing. 

It was evident that the parlor was not for everyday use, 
but was the best room. It was scrupulously neat. The fur- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


XI 3 

niture was substantial, and in its time had been stylish. The 
carpet was good, for there were no stamping boys in the 
Bryce family to carry terror to the hearts of the women by 
tracking the floors on muddy days. There were some good 
books in a case and a piano which was the especial property 
of May, and the only one “ this side of town.” The few 
simple pictures and the little articles of ornamentation, though 
unpretentious, indicated a refined taste. The whole showed 
the touches of May’s leisure moments. This parlor, though 
little used, was not one of those sepulchral “best rooms ” into 
which the sunshine of day or the sunshine of a laugh never 
penetrates. Everything the Bryces owned was intended to 
serve some useful purpose. 

They had scarcely closed the parlor door when Tom 
'remarked : 

“A very pretty girl, that Miss Bryce.” 

“What, smitten already?” replied Wilson, eyeing his 
friend narrowly. 

“Oh, no; I shan’t poach on your preserves.” 

“ Tom, I’m only a boarder in this house.” 

“ Oh, I understand. It must be very nice sometimes to 
be a boarder.” 

“ It is to be a boarder in this family.” 

The friends chatted until supper time, watching the glow- 
ing anthracite through the cherry-red mica doors of the big 
base-burner. They talked of New York and their acquain- 
tances, of the fresh Englishman, who was withal a good fel- 
low, of the “Old Commoner” and his sugar, of Chetta 
Ingledee, and Wilson did not fail to ask his friend about his 
sister Alice. 

At the six o’clock supper, which Tom, in his ignorance 
called dinner, the table was bountifully spread with substan- 
tiate and delicacies. It was such fare as only the country 
housewife can prepare. There was a chicken pot-pie, the 
sight of which would have rendered the inhabitants of a 
boarding-house frantic with anticipations of gastronomic 
delights. There were mashed potatoes and stewed parsnips 
and cold slaw. There was light, delicious bread, which had 
a satisfying substance that was very unlike the airy produc- 
tion of the city baker, which approaches at times the ethereal 
nothingness of a dream. There were huge pies, apple and 
mince, with well-baked, tender crust and bounteous insides. 
The principal dishes were punctuated with smaller ones piled 

s 




AN IRON CROWN. 


I I 4 

high with pickles, spiced peaches, preserved pears, canned 
strawberries, and currant jelly. For drinkables there was cof- 
fee like nectar, milk and cider. The cream for the coffee and 
fruit was cream. It was ambitious to rise to the top of the 
vessel in a rich coat, and was not ashamed to stay there. 
Pickled pigs 5 feet, doughnuts and other dishes found a place 
wherever they could among the profusion of edibles. 

It is the weakness of the farmer’s wife to display all the 
resources of her cookery at once. Like an army reduced to 
great straits, she hazards- all on a single charge, and tries to 
carry all by one great effort. She overwhelms with profu- 
sion. If she possesses, as she often does, a dozen kinds of 
butters, jellies and marmalades, she sets them all out at once, 
to the utter bewilderment of her guest and the confusion of 
her neighbor, who can set out only ten kinds. Hence about 
the only difference noticeable at next day’s Sunday dinner 
was that the chicken was roasted and pumpkin and custard 
pies took the place of apple and mince, while delicious, flaky 
biscuits were a toothsome substitute for bread. 

During the long, gloomy December Sunday Jacob Bryce 
talked to Norwell unceasingly, inside the house and out. 
The farmer was really an intelligent man, and was delighted 
to find some one beyond his own commonplace acquaintance 
with whom he could, as he expressed it, have “a good square 
talk.” He showed Norwell the hogs, told him what they 
would weigh, and what he could get for them. He pointed 
out the pigs he intended to keep for breeding purposes. He 
descanted on the merits of his horses, and gave a history of 
the flea-bitten old gray mare who was the mother of sev- 
eral of them. All this might have been very tiresome had 
it not been interlarded with practical observations new and 
novel to Tom. Bryce’s conversation departed materially 
from that usual on such occasions, which takes the form of a 
dialogue something after the following fashion: 

“John, what’ll you take for that there brindle cow?” 
“Forty dollars! not a cent less of any man’s money. 
That’s a dog-on fine keow, Jones.” 

“ Say, d’ye mind that old crumply-horned cow of ourn?” 
“ Le’s see. The one with the stub tail?” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Waal, that ole cow jist beats all creation. She’s got so 
the women can’t go nigh her. She chased the hull kit out ’o 
the barn yard last Monday rnornin’, — no, le ’s see, it was 


AN IRON CROWN. I 15 

Chuseday mornin’. Bub had to stop plowin’ to git her 
druv to the paster.” 

“ Beef her! No keow o’ mine can cut up any sich didos 
as that roun’ me, I tell yeou.” 

“John, how d’ye keep your horses so slick? ” 

“ Oats an’ elbow grease, I guess.” 

“ What’s good for bots? ” 

“ Got bots at your house? ” 

“ Naw, but one o’ Bill Simpson’s horses died awful sud- 
dint with ’em yisterday.” 

“ They’re a purty skeery thing sometimes. We never 
had ’em.” From the last remark it would seem doubtful 
whether bots were confined to the equine family oj; whether 
at times they might not attack their biped masters on skeery 
occasions. 

“ Bothered with rats? Durn em, they’re eating us up body 
and breeches.” And so the conversation goes on for a whole 
day if the visit lasts so long. 

Although Mr. Bryce never allowed the valves of speech 
to get rusty his conversation was not flat. Nor did he have 
that exceedingly vulgar habit of trying to do all the talking, 
a habit not unknown, I am sorry to say, in good society. He 
asked Tom his opinion on many subjects of interest. At 
times he asked some questions which, had not Tom been 
previously cautioned by Wilson, he would have considered 
impertinent. But they were well meant. Tom was secretly 
hoping that the old man would get through sometime and 
allow him to cultivate the acquaintance of the daughter. But 
for this he was obliged to wait till a week day when Mr. 
Bryce was at work and Wilson at school. 


CHAPTER XII. 
spellin’ school. 

“ What are your chief amusements, Miss Bryce? ” 

“ We have very few, mostly singings, parties and spelling 
schools.” 

“ I think those must all be very enjoyable.” 

“I don’t care much about them, Mr. Norwell. It is just 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 1 6 

the same thing over every time. They say and do about the 
same things. My greatest pleasure is reading. Mother says 
I read so much that I care for nothing else.” 

“ That is an unfailing source of pleasure for some people, 
though I can’t say I’m much of a reader. What do you like 
best? ” 

“ Poetry and fiction.” 

“ I cut the poetry.” 

“ Oh, poetry is delightful, Mr. Norwell. How can you say 
that? ” 

“ It’s because I’m prosy, I guess.” 

“ Mr. Norwell, I think you must be a great deal more clever 
than you admit. City people all are I suppose; I’m a country 
girl, but I do think country people are so dull. It must be 
very nice living in a city where all the people are well-in- 
formed and entertaining.” Norwell opened his eyes rather 
wide at this, and replied: 

“ Miss Bryce, I think you over-estimate city people. They 
are not all witty and well-informed, and not all even agree- 
able.” 

“ Of course I did not mean that they were all witty. We 
cannot all be that.” 

“ Some of us city folks are stupid too.” 

“ Well, perhaps — I don’t know — I never thought so,” re- 
plied May slowly, as if this were a painful revelation that pro- 
duced a discord in her ideas of metropolitan society. She 
had formed those ideas chiefly on her estimate of the very 
few city people she had seen, and from notions picked out of 
books, and the society columns of the papers. It was hard 
to believe that the well-dressed, polite, city people were not 
the superior beings which her romantic imagination had 
pictured them. But here was a positive contradiction of 
her notions. If she were only quite sure he was not jesting, 
she would quietly admit the painful truth of his position. On 
the latter point she was undecided, and so made only a partial 
surrender. 

“ Mr. Norwell, I suppose some city people are dull.” 

“For your admission, Miss Bryce, I’ll make another, that 
many country people are decidedly agreeable company.” 
In her uncertainty what to say, May now said nothing at all. 

This conversation occurred one afternoon before Wilson 
returned from his school, and while Mrs. Bryce was taking 
the first steps toward supper. Norwell had found his new 


AN IRON CROWN. I 1 7 

friends very interesting, and had rapidly advanced his 
acquaintance with them. 

The first social event which Tom Norwell participated in 
was a spelling school. The “ Spoon Creek ” district chal- 
lenged Wilson’s school to a contest. A rivalry had existed 
between these districts from the days of the first settlers. It 
cropped out in matters literary, social, and at times religious. 
Each strove to outdo the other in whatever might be under- 
taken. Sometimes one was victorious, sometimes the other, 
for they were very evenly matched. These contests were 
usually carried on in a spirit of good humor except when 
religion got mixed up with them, then dogmatism sometimes 
got the better of common sense, among the elderly brethren 
and sisters. Bryce’s district was shoutin’ Methodist, Spoon 
Creek deep-water Baptist. 

The much talked of contest was to take place on the 
Tuesday evening of the week before Christmas. The young 
folks had been in a high state of excitement for several weeks. 
The Analytical Speller was conned morning noon and night 
as it had never been perused before. Boys and girls even be- 
came absorbed in the excitement to the extent of abandoning 
for a time the more congenial sports of skating, sliding, pop- 
ping corn and munching apples. Their heads might be seen 
in dangerous proximity to the evening lamp, as they hummed 
incessantly, getting the long columns by heart. One might 
easily have imagined them talking machines, specially con- 
structed to pour forth in unceasing streams the fearfully and 
wonderfully constructed syllables of our senseless English 
orthography. They gave out to one another, as pronouncing 
was called in the local idiom, to test their proficiency. The old 
folks caught the contagion and told wonderful stories of feats 
accomplished in Webster or the u United States,” “forty odd 
year ago ” when spelling was a high art, and before its pres- 
ent lamentable decadence had set in. 

It was generally conceded by the people of both districts, 
that Deacon Elijah Brown, of Quinnebago district, and Squire 
Hiram Dodge, of Four Corners district, should respectively 
give out and act as judge (umpire). The deacon belonged to 
the Congregational church and was consequently above the 
suspicion of bias in a contest between Baptist and Methodist. 
Squire Dodge, who hailed from the Buckeye State, had been 
Justice of the Peace for twenty years, and never had a decision 
reversed by a higher court. He was a member of no church. 


1 1 8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


He was consequently satisfactory to all, and at the same time 
a concession to the worldly element which flourished to a con- 
siderable degree in these parts. 

It was further hoped that Judge Andrew Dickson might 
be induced to come out from town. The Judge, like many 
other titled dignitaries in the West, had never sat on the bench 
unless it was a carpenter’s bench in his early days. He was 
an important-looking fat man, who carried a gold-headed cane 
and could squirt tobacco juice a little further than any other 
person in the county. He was a great scholar and served the 
community insteady of a cyclopedia. Tap him anywhere 
and information would flow. Logarithms, philosophy, history, 
poetry and orthography trickled indifferently from the same 
spigot. True, his knowledge was not very well classified, and 
it usually took some time to get at just what was wanted. 
But a considerable dumping around of wares in his mental 
storehouse, and much preliminary expectoration usually 
brought forth an opinion more or less explicit. His decisions 
were seldom questioned. In a community of farmers and 
small tradesmen, erudite men are rare enough to be valu- 
able, besides what is the use of weakening public confidence 
and running down home institutions? The only fear was that 
Judge Dickson might not honor this occasion with his pres- 
ence. He often declined, and then allowed himself to be 
persuaded into accepting. It was so in this case, and as a 
result his services were thereby greatly enhanced in public 
estimation. 

On the eventful evening Bryce’s big sled was full to over- 
flowing with young folks going to the “ spellin’ school.” The 
bottom of the sled was full of clean oat straw, and into 
this squeezed the youngsters until the boards creaked every 
time they breathed. Tom Norwell was very careful to seat 
himself beside May Bryce. In the jostle and chaffing and 
noise he clung as closely to her side as the prevailing confu- 
sion permitted. The hired man drove. Mr. Bryce “ guessed 
he was about done with that sort o’ thing,” so he and Mrs. 
Bryce staid at home. Several other sleds took the remainder 
of the Bryce district, and away they sped at a rattling pace, 
over the crisp snow, under a glorious moon, between miles of 
wire or two-plank fence, past farmhouses, up gentle slopes, 
down again with a swoop, over wooden bridges, rousing dogs 
in basso, dogs in tenor, dogs in piping staccato, dogs with a 
lazy, careless bark, dogs with a sharp, vicious bark, and dogs 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 l 9 

in the far away distance whose answer seemed only an echo. 
On they speed, singing merrily snatches of songs in all kinds 
of time and no kind of tune, arousing the people as they pass, 
whose faces appear at the ruddy windows; on! on! over the 
boundless prairie, between the interminable fences, with snow 
flying in their faces, and overhead the clear full moon and 
myriads of twinkling stars set in a silvery sky. Such is a 
genuine country sleighride, compared with which the city 
affair in a cramped ten to twenty dollar a night turn out is a 
miserable delusion. 

Spoon Creek schoolhouse was, as Deacon Brown expressed 
it, “chuck full.” There was this winter a sudden revival in 
spelling schools which had of late years somewhat languished 
for the more fashionable amusements found in evening parties 
and dancing. 

“ I calkilate there hasn’t been sich a crowd in this house 
sence the war,” remarked the Deacon to Squire Dodge. 

“ I reckon not. Who do you reckon will have to give 
out, Deacon? ” 

“Judge Dickson’s the man for that.” Now in making 
this reply the deacon knew perfectly well that another sphere 
of usefulness was allotted to the Judge, and that he himself 
was by general consent to be nominated for the position 
named. 

“ I ’spose the Judge will be late if he comes at all, so I 
reckon we’ll have to pick somebody else.” This conversation 
took place while they were thawing their shins in front of the 
huge soft-coal stove in the center of the room, which raged 
like an incipient volcano. 

The room was now full of shock-headed cubs of boys in 
jeans and cowhide boots, with woolen scarfs around their 
necks. The young men were more pretentiously dressed, 
some of them even in tailor-made well-fitting suits, though 
their efforts at style somehow were not a complete success. 
They acted too much like the painfully conscious man who 
appears for the first time in a bran new suit of clothes. 
However, if the young men were satisfied, and better still, the 
girls, that was quite sufficient. One ambitious youth who 
aspired to play the beau possessed a profusion of red hair. 
He wore a flaming red silk necktie and a pair of yellow kid 
gloves (the only pair present) with black corded seams in 
the backs. The effect was certainly unique. There were 
girls of all sizes, stout girls, slim girls, straight gills, stooping 


120 


AN IRON CROWN. 


girls, plain girls and handsome girls. One trait they all pos- 
sessed in common, an uncontrollable tendency to giggle. Some 
of the older young ladies, however, succeeded measurably in 
suppressing undue laughter. There were also many of the 
younger married people present, and a sprinkling of old folks. 
Soon after the close of the conversation alluded to between 
Deacon Brown and Squire Dodge, as above quoted, the 
Squire rose and cleared his throat. The talking now sub- 
sided or was carried on in whispers, and the Squire began: 

“ Ladies and Gentlemen: — It’s gittin’ nigh onto eight 
o’clock.” Nobody disputed this announcement, and he con- 
tinued after a pause with deliberation and great stress on his 
words. “ I reckon this is goin’ to be the biggest spellin’ 
school we ever had in these parts. It’s goin’ to be a squar 
stand up and knock down in three rounds, an’ I ’spose it’s 
goin’ to take considerble time. In my opinion we ort to begin 
tolable early. So I will nominate Deacon Brown to give 
out. If there is no objection the Deacon is considered 
elected.” 

Deacon Brown went forward to the teacher’s desk. He 
was a tall, stooping, thin Yankee, with a marked nasal twang. 
Like Judge Dickson he had acquired a habit of spitting con- 
tinually on exciting occasions, such as the present. Unlike 
the Judge, he had nothing to spit, for he did not chew 
tobacco. With a nervous attempt to expectorate, which being 
the first, was partially successful, the Deacon began: 

“Ladies and Gentlemen: — I think praps you might ’a got 
a more competent person to fill this position than I be, for it’s 
a ticklish place to be in on such occasions as this, an’ takes 
ruther particlar work.” 

The Deacon made it much more ticklish by his disagreea- 
ble articulation, which often puzzled the speller and left him 
in a fog as to what the word might be. But he was not 
aware of any such infirmity. His remarks were merely intro- 
ductory, and the same he had made at every spelling where 
he had presided for the last twenty years. After another 
superannuated attempt to spit he proceeded : 

“ I agree, however, with Squire Dodge. It’s nigh onto 
eight o’clock. (No dissent.) I kalkilate we’d better toss up 
for sides.” Just then Judge Dickson entered, preceded by a 
suppressed buzz of mingled excitement and satisfaction. 
46 Come right up in front, Judge. Take the master’s seat.” 

44 I was a gittin’ mighty oneasy. I thought you mightn’t 


AN IRON CROWN. I2i 

be comiti’,” remarked Squire Dodge by way of salutation, in 
an undertone that could be heard all over the house. 

“ Ladies and Gentlemen.” continued Deacon Brown, “ if 
nobody objects I guess we’d better have the Judge to sit as a 
sort of court of appeal to aid the reg’lar judge to pass on 
knotty pints.” 

As the Judge had been sent for with this very purpose in 
view, and as everybody knew it perfectly well, there was no 
objection. Neither was there any approval. It is only city 
people who have acquired the absurd and meaningless habit 
of applauding on every possible occasion. The Deacon con- 
tinued: U I kalkilate we are now ready to git right down to 
business; the teachers will toss up for sides.” 

The tossing up was for the purpose of allowing the oppo- 
site sides a chance to choose from those present who belonged 
to neither district. It was done in this wise. One of the teach- 
ers grasped the handle of the school broom with his right hand 
and the other grasped it just above and touching the hand of 
the first. The one who had the last hold at the top of the 
handle tossed the broom into the air for the other to catch at 
random. Two upper holds out of three gave the right of 
first choice, which fell to Wilson. Wilson, feeling confident 
of his success arry way, chose Tom Norwell partly as a joke 
and partly because he knew Tom to be a pretty good scholar 
and a correct speller. Here Deacon Brown confided to 
Squire Dodge, in one of those wheezy whispers which, in- 
tended to be inaudible, can be heard more easily than the indi- 
vidual’s ordinary tone of voice, “ I kalkilate that New York 
chap is some on the spell when he tries.” It was in vain 
Tom asked to be excused. Squire Dodge said such a thing 
couldn’t be thought on, and the authority in the person of 
Judge Dickson said such a thing was without precedent, and 
little short of a violation of the common law. 

A row of seats had been placed around the room, begin- 
ning with the teacher’s desk, running down the side aisles, 
and ending at the door on the opposite side of the house. On 
these the contestants took their places, the teachers at the 
head. The contest was to be: First, u climbers”; second, 
spelling down; third, a bout at defining lists of words which 
both schools had studied in their readers. These climbers 
were the two best spellers, who went each to the foot of his 
opponent’s side. Whenever a word was missed the climber 
went above all the persons missing, unless some one on that 


122 


AN IRON CROWN. 


side was fortunate enough to spell the word before it reached 
the climber, or unless the climber himself was unlucky enough 
to miss, in which case the correct speller “ trapped ” him. 

The contest grew animated as the grotesque and senseless 
combinations of English orthography fell from the lips of 
lisping maidens in almost inaudible tones (the same who 
could laugh so loud), and shock-headed boys who blunted all 
their vowels. A very few of the poorest spellers dropped be- 
fore the climbers at the first round, but the majority held out 
bravely. There was little guessing. It was a brilliant tri- 
umph of mnemonics. At length, to Wilson’s great dismay, 
reveille slaughtered nearly his whole line. There were fre- 
quent calls to have it ct pronounced over again.” This was 
clearly against the rules, for Deacon Brown had announced be- 
fore beginning that he should give out words but twice at most, 
and each speller should have but one trial. He stuck on 
reveille and held a whispered consultation with Judge Dick- 
son as to its proper pronunciation. Then drawing a long 
breath, and ejaculating two little spits, he fired the deadly 
missile at the unsuspecting assembly. The effect was electri- 
cal. . A suppressed “ what ” of surprise ran around the circle. 
The boy whose turn it was had been posing with his feet on 
the seat in front of him. In his confusion he dropped them 
with a great noise to the floor, and the consequent publicity 
embarrassed him. He grew red in the face and stammered 
M Dunno the word.” Deacon Brown held another consulta- 
tion with Squire Dodge and Judge Dickson, in which they 
came to the astounding conclusion that it was a furrin’ word. 

“Naow, bein’ a furrin word, I kalkilate it ought to be 
pronounced accordin’ to furrin idees. What dew yeou say, 
Squire Dodge?” This public appeal was merely formal, to 
give the Squire a chance to express himself. 

u I’m not very well up onto furrin words, Deacon, but I 
guess we ort to have the furrin’ way about as nigh as you can 
tech it.” Judge Dickson felt that here was a chance to display 
profound learning, and give a decision that was a decision. 
As a preliminary he took the cud of tobacco from his mouth 
and prepared to expectorate. He blew a column of tobacco 
juice, shaped like a miniature water spout, directly toward the 
stove. It fell a little short of the mark, but left a broad trail 
on the floor shaped like the tail of a comet. With due 
deliberation he began: 

u P’r’aps we’d better have the French of it. French is 


AN IRON CROWN. 1 23 

gettin’ to be so common nowadays that we might as well 
take to it first as last, I guess.” 

Deacon Brown now prepared to give “ the French of it, 
as nigh as he could tech it.” A Frenchman would have 
stood aghast at the result. It might have been a Welch adjec- 
tive, a three-story German oath, or the echo of a superannu- 
ated war whoop. Nobody dared attempt it. Now it so 
happened that in the Bryce district the pupils had been taught 
to pronounce the word rev-a-lee, while the Spoon Creekers 
had got the “French of it” re-vale-yea. As a consequence 
Wilson’s school were completely puzzled, while their oppo- 
nents were secretly and anxiously expectant, for some of them 
had somehow recognized the mangled remains of the word, 
perhaps from Deacon Brown’s facial contortions. 

The frightened boy whose turn it was spelled “raillery;” 
the next one “ shillalah.” Then there was a storm of pro- 
test “that it wasn’t fair; nobody knew the word.” After con- 
siderable discussion it was finally agreed that the deacon should 
pronounce the word again. This time he mentally resolved 
to make it clear, and thought a judicious combination of the 
English and French versions might improve matters. But, 
unluckily, he stuck in the middle of it, and could get neither 
backward nor forward, finally delivering himself of some- 
thing about as intelligible as the words of Italian opera to an 
English audience. With his inimitable nasal twang the word 
might have passed for a section of a Chinese prayer. He 
slowly repeated it without a particle of accent, jerking each 
syllable off in separate morsels — ruv-cile-yuh . 

Everybody passed unanimously till it came to the turn of 
the Spoon Creek climber, who correctly spelled and pro- 
nounced reveille. At one fell swoop he laid low all his oppo- 
nents but Tom and Wilson. There was a storm of protest, 
but in vain. Squire Dodge decided that the deacon’s pro- 
nunciation “ must ’a bin accordin’ to grammar ’r’else that 
climber wouldn't ’a snapped it up like that,” and Judge Dick- 
son, as final court of appeals, clinched the decision. The law 
of the Medes and Persians could not be changed. 

Tom and Wilson in dismay determined to fight for it, and 
if possible save their side from ignominious defeat. Round 
and round went the words until the interest grew intense, 
as evinced by the quietness prevailing. First the whispering 
subsided into a low hum, then it stopped, then feet ceased to 
shuffle on the floor, and at last a dead silence prevailed. The 


124 


AN IRON CROWN* 


excitement incident to an old-fashioned spelling school finally 
culminates, with a close contest, in a tension such as is exhibited 
at a horse race or at a theater where a fashionable audience is 
listening to the thrilling crisis in some great tragedy. The 
fastidious critic or the languid devotee of dilettante literature 
may find nothing perchance in a spelling school of interest or 
worthy of mention. To such I will say that the spelling 
school is as distinctively American as the pumpkin pie or Yan- 
kee Doodle, and as this book deals with American life, the 
author deems no apology necessary for introducing the spell- 
ing school. 

Round and round went the words, but the Bryce district 
climber had not succeeded in “ trapping ” a single Spoon 
Creeker. He was held stubbornly at bay by a ruddy-cheeked 
boy in a blue flannel shirt without any collar. This boy was 
a prodigy in spelling, and his being placed at the lower end 
of the line was a most ingenious ruse to discourage the ene- 
my. Suddenly Tom Norwell, who was really warmed to the 
contest, fell on bilious , into which he projected two l’s in a 
moment of over-confidence. Instantly the tension was re- 
moved and a laugh followed, which Squire- Dodge promptly 
suppressed by stamping his big foot on the floor and remark- 
ing, “ I ’low we ort to have better order.” Wilson’s school 
was defeated. They won on the “ stand up and spell down ” 
trial, but lost the defining contest, and the victory was ad- 
judged to the triumphant Spoon Creekers. The spelling 
adjourned amidst shouts, laughter, and much good-natured 
bantering. 

Suddenly the young folks are divided without any appar- 
ent cause into two distinct groups. The girls in one corner 
of the room, with much chattering and giggling, don their 
bonnets and shawls, while the boys all file out of the house. 
Here they form in two lines at either side of the door and ap- 
pear to be in an expectant attitude. Inside the girls giggle 
incessantly, and such expressions as u You go first, Tillie.” 
“ No,y^ go first, Jule,” could be heard. At last, with much 
adjusting of wraps and giggling, the girls start for the door 
to run the gauntlet awaiting them. 

The irrepressible small boy is outside the lines taking ob- 
servations. As the maidens trip lightly over the threshold 
the gallant beaux (the more experienced nearest the door as 
the critical position) single out the damsels of their choice 
and inquire, rather nervously, “May I see you home?” If 


AN IRON CROWN. 


12 5 


the answer is favorable the cavalier thrusts out an arm awk- 
wardly at right angles, and the procession moves at once, 
amid the cheers of the vigilant small boy. If a negative is 
received, does the young man vanish into nonentity? Not at 
all, if he have a modicum of what is known in the local 
vernacular as brass. He just keeps on asking till he does find 
a girl who is ready to lisp out u Yes.” This is no lottery, for 
there is a prize for every one, and perseverance coupled with 
the happy faculty of not being too particular, is sure to win. 
The dainty damsels delight in saying “ No” a few times, but 
thev are all the time anxiously watching the length of the 
line and are sure to be suited before reaching it. There is no 
case in the traditions where a young man owning a sleigh 
has been refused. 

Away they went homeward again under the twinkling 
stars. The crisp snow as it flew before the horses’ feet, over 
the unbroken crust at the roadside, had a clear, musical ring, 
like the faintest low twang of a stringed instrument. The 
spirits of the party were at the very highest pitch. They 
sang, they jested, they laughed as they sped away like the 
wind. The sled was crowded to its utmost capacity, and 
somehow Tom Norwell’s arm slid gently around May Bryce’s 
waist. Perhaps this was to economize space, perhaps a precau- 
tion against accident. She chatted away apparently oblivi- 
ous to the fact. She was fascinated, thrilled, delighted with 
the superior manners of this well-bred stranger. Her refined 
and romantic nature was stirred as it never had been be- 
fore. But she did not seem to recognize the fact that her beau 
had an arm at all, that is to say, she took no cognizance of 
its whereabouts. Like oblivion prevailed in other cases. 

May told the hired man “ to let the horses out.” He let 
them out with the intention of passing a sled just ahead. He 
turned his team from the beaten path, and with a crack of the 
whip put them on a full run. The entire lane was drifted 
full of snow, and smooth as a floor, concealing all hollows or 
inequalities. Unluckity he turned out just as they were pass- 
ing over a low wooden bridge or culvert which was con- 
cealed by the drifts. There was a sudden lurch of the sled, 
a chorus of screams, flying forms, tangled wraps, and the 
whole party were floundering in three or four feet of snow. 
Fortunately nobody was hurt, and nothing broken. The 
party ahead, with roars of laughter at the expense of the 
wrecked crew, caught the horses, and, in a few minutes after 


126 


AN IRON CROWN. 


much scrambling, shaking of garments, and searching for 
lost articles, they were all safely started again. 

After proceeding some distance they approached another 
bridge, and a young man sang out: 

a Say girls, are you goin’ to pay forfeits?” Several 
laughed, and one damsel said saucily, “ Not much; wouldn’t 
you like to, though?” Tom Norwell had heard of the an- 
cient custom by virtue of which the gay gallant might snatch 
a kiss from his fair partner while crossing a bridge. He, 
furthermore, had the impression that country people were 
very free and easy in their manners. If there was any fun 
going he mentally resolved to have his share. Leaning over 
the shoulder of his neighbor in front, he inquired in a whisper 
if the forfeit were to be exacted. That young gentleman 
jocularly replied, “I will if you will,” and Tom answered, 
“ All right.” Suddenly they entered the darkness of a covered 
wooden bridge, and Tom adroitly planted a kiss on the cherry 
lips of the unsuspecting May. His companion in front at- 
tempted to follow suit, but the saucy damsel was too quick to 
be caught on the fly, and a little struggle ensued. Two or three 
other young men made similar attempts, but woman would 
not be woman if she yielded without a contest. The sled 
emerged from the bridge, and a chorus of female voices cried, 
“Not smart enough, eh,” and laughed in silvery peals that 
echoed over the solemn waste of snow. May, who was so 
neatly caught, blushed crimson, but made no reply to the 
good-natured chaff at her expense. 

Tom felt heartily ashamed of himself. He was a thief, 
caught in the act and exposed to the eye of a virtuous public. 
He felt that he had heartlessly imposed on a helpless girl. 
But the remembrance of that delicious first kiss lingered long 
after all sense of culpability disappeared. First impressions 
thrill and penetrate us till they become a part of ourselves, as 
later ones never can. The sunshine quickens the ripening 
peach. But when rare nectar swells the luscious fruit the 
golden beams become only a dull stream of yellow light. The 
peach has drunk the wine of life, and sunshine now brings 
only surfeit. 

Norwell was obliged to return to New York soon. He 
had had a capital visit. He had seen a little of real country 
life and had never enjoyed himself so well. Fie returned, 
bearing pleasant memories, one of which was the image of a 
tender, blue-eyed, fair-haired girl. Was there room in his 


AN IRON CROWN. 


✓ 



heart for it beside that of the strong-willed girl of Fifth av- 
enue? A man’s heart may hold a thousand noble impulses, 
but it can never hold two women at once. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

THE HACKETTS. 

Mr. Norwell had once had in his employ at the factory a 
foreman by the name of Hackett. This man had a family, 
consisting of his wife, a daughter Mary and a son John. With 
him lived a maiden sister, Aunt Rhoda Hackett. Hackett 
found it hard work to support such a family on his moderate 
salary. His wife was an invalid, and the boy a sickly hunch- 
back. The little fellow’s deformity was not so bad as most of 
the kind, and he strove to conceal it as far as possible by dress 
and bearing, but nature had been very miserly in her gifts to 
him. From his stunted appearance he was always known by 
the name of “ little Hackett.” His pale, sickly looks be- 
trayed chronic ill-health, resulting from his spinal trouble and 
a nervous disorder which affected the functions of his heart 
somewhat. 

By dint of much scrimping and saving, Hackett had ac- 
cumulated one thousand dollars which Mr. Norwell kept pay- 
ing him interest. Hacket was solicitous that his crippled son 
and daughter should not be left penniless to the scanty char- 
ity of a selfish world, doomed to the unceasing struggle for 
existence incident to the life of the very poor. Mrs. Hackett’s 
long expected death came as a matter of course, and Hackett 
died a few years later when Mary was thirteen, and a Little 
Hackett” eleven. He bequeathed the whole of his little prop- 
erty to his children, naming Mr. Norwell executor. Aunt 
Rhoda continued to be their natural guardian, as she had for 
years been really a mother to them. 

Little Hackett was now twenty-one, though in appearance 
still a boy. His somewhat better health allowed him to work 
with his sister in a bookbindery where she had tor some 
years been employed. Mr. Norwell, by allowing them a 
generous interest, more than the money would really bring 
elsewhere, had, besides the small outlays made from time to 


128 


AN IRON CROWN. 


time for the children, accumulated for them in all two thou- 
sand dollars. He had retained Mary’s money after her major- 
ity, but now informed the Hackett children that they would 
come into possession of one thousand dollars apiece. They 
were naturally anxious to invest their little money where it 
would be absolutely secure. Aunt Rhoda, who was reared 
in the country, thought u a bit of land ” the surest possession 
in this world. But a bit of land was out of the question in 
New York City, with their means. They naturally wished 
Mr. Norwell to advise them. 

The Hacketts lived on the East Side in a street a little 
further up town, a little cleaner, and a little, very little better 
in every respect than the plebeian neighborhood of the Mal- 
leys. There was less brawling, less noise at night, and less 
filth than in the latter locality. The ugly brick tenement- 
house in which they lived, had nothing attractive about it to 
any one accustomed to the decencies and common comforts 
of life. But the poor are grateful for even a shelter. Added 
to this plenty to eat, plenty to wear, and a warm fire, and 
they anticipate a taste of heaven. You, perhaps reader, 
though not a millionaire, may think the possession of only 
these things not living at all. Your opinion then is only an- 
other illustration of the old saying that one-half the world 
does not know how the other half lives. 

It is said of Marie Antoinette, the unfortunate queen of 
France, on whom was poured the accumulated wrath of cen- 
turies, that she asked, when told that the people clamored for 
bread, “Why don’t the poor things eat cake?” In this land 
of boasted intelligence there are millions of people as ignorant 
of the tendencies of our national policy as was this useless 
piece of royalty, concerning the real condition of her miser- 
able subjects. Our public domain which we thought inex- 
haustible has well-nigh disappeared, granted to great corpo- 
rations and land thieves of various degrees. We have en- 
couraged railways with land grants until they are virtually 
our masters. They buy our officeholders with what they 
stole from the people. We have boasted of our natural re- 
sources, and “ boomed ” our natural advantages until Europe 
is deluging us with paupers and criminals. 

Our patent laws, originally intended to protect the inven- 
tor, are now little better than a means of allowing conscience- 
less capitalists to rob the people. When four or five sewing- 
machine monopolies can wring from the women of the coun- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I29 


/ 


try one hundred millions in twenty years; when four or five 
railway kings can steal one hundred and sixty millions in 
twenty years; when an oil company can pile fabulous millions 
on millions in ten years; when a YVall-street pirate can steal 
from the American people one hundred millions in twenty 
years by wrecking railroads, seizing telegraphs, and endanger- 
ing the business interests of the country; when three or four 
great coal monopolies can own the fuel of a continent, and 
charge extortionate prices for it; when the rich daily grow 
enormously rich, and the poor daily grow poorer; when all 
these things can occur, under the sanction of law, in a great 
republic, is it not time to stop and think? Having reflected, is it 
not time to act before our slavery is complete and irremediable? 

What must we do? Join the ranks of the communist? 
No! Communism is a monster too vile to be tolerated for an 
instant. It is the dangerous weapon of the reckless, the im- 
provident, the criminal. What then? Purify politics. Elect 
honest men, pledged to honest measures. If they betray 
their trust set them such an example as will make official 
corruption, bribery, and dishonesty a crime, sure to meet a 
swift, certain, and righteous retribution. Let public opinion 
place bribery on a par with horse stealing. Let us at all 
hazards stay this tide of corruption. Otherwise the dreadful 
horrors of the French Revolution _ may be repeated on 
American soil during the twentieth century. 

The crazy old brick building in which the Hacketts lived 
was a regular human hive. It had nothing suggestive of 
home to a person who had been brought up on a farm where 
the nearest neighbor lives half a mile distant. It was a home 
for the Hacketts, for they had known no other nearly all the 
lives of the brother and sister. The Hacketts were probably 
the very poorest tenants in the building, which, instead of be- 
ing a calamity as may appear at first sight, was a blessing, 
since they had very good neighbors. Among such people 
there is little or none of the jealousy existing among- the rich 
on the subject of wealth which leads at times to so much 
display and senseless rivalry. None of them had means 
sufficient to justify them in putting on airs. In this building 
no family had less than two rooms, a fortunate contrast with 
those places not infrequent in the metropolis where a family 
of five or six persons cook, eat, live, and sleep in a single 
room of moderate dimensions.* 


*See Note 4. — The Poor of New York. 


9 ' 


I0O AN IRON CROWN. 

The two rooms occupied by the Hacketts were at the 
back of the third floor. The back yards here gave a space 
of at least sixty feet between the rear of their house and the 
rear of the building across the alley. In this locality such a 
vista may justly be termed magnificent, and the tenant who 
would complain of such a stretch of scenery was indeed un- 
reasonable. The forenoon sun shone full into their rear 
room. This was a blessing of which the enterprising land- 
lord had not been able to devise means to deprive them, al- 
though he made the most of it by increasing the rent, because 
of the fine light which made the apartments, he argued, fully 
equal to a front suite of rooms. 

The carpet on the floor was in places very threadbare, 
though carefully darned by Aunt Rhoda. The chairs were 
old and growing rickety. There was a geranium and a vine 
in the window, and a very active canary in a cage. The little 
square stove which served both for cooking and heating pur- 
poses was carefully polished. In spite of the apparent poverty, 
this little room looked positively cosy. Mr. Norwell often 
came to see and advise his wards, and frequently Tom 
dropped in to have a chat with Aunt Rhoda and Mary, who 
had grown into a very good looking young woman. On the 
present occasion as they were seated by a lamp, about half- 
past seven o’clock in the evening, there was a knock at the 
door. Mary, laying down some sewing, remarked to her 
brother, who was reading: 

“ That’s Tom Norwell.” 

M Well, if I don’t believe it is,” exclaimed Aunt Rhoda. 
Mary opened the door, and Tom’s cheery voice was heard in 
the passage. His voice like his nature, was full of melody. 
There was in it an inspiration of joy which, combined with 
his cheerful countenance, carried gladness with them. No 
germ of discontent existed in his nature. His presence for the 
time subdued it in others. Who could really be selfish enough 
to feel blue while catching a spirit of genial humor from this 
good natured specimen of robust mental and physical man- 
hood? Yet he was not frivolous. He possessed the rare 
faculty of making, when he chose, his cordiality a part of be- 
coming dignity. Unconsciously he banished reserve, with- 
out sacrificing the prestige of his own attractive personality. 
His manners were frank, cordial and winning; when this rare 
gift is combined with small moral faculties, the possessor may 
become a very dangerous person. Nature does for a rascal 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I 3 I 

of this sort gratuitously, and with apparent honesty of pur- 
pose, what a less gifted rogue is obliged to accomplish by 
artful methods. But Tom Nor well had no thought of em- 
ploying wrongly, the great power which like a magnet, drew 
others toward him. It would have been of vast utility to 
Horace Roker. Tom dropped into an old-fashioned rocking 
chair which was always allotted to him. Mary resumed her 
sewing, now and then casting a friendly glance toward their 
visitor. 

“ Laws ’a me, Mr. Tom,' you haven’t been to see us for a 
long time. Are you forgettin’ old friends? But then of 
course you have more places to go than poor folks have.” 

“ Now, Aunt Rhoda, that isn’t fair. I haven’t forgotten 
you at all. I’ll leave it to Mary if I have, eh, Mary? ” 

“ I’m sure you would never forget old friends,” said Mary, 
as a smile lighted up her countenance, and a faint glow passed 
over her cheeks. Mary Hackett had a pleasing face with 
regular outlines. It had, perhaps, too little color for healthy 
beauty, but with the adjuncts of fine dress, and the polish of 
good society, she might have passed for a fine-looking 
woman. As it was, she, although still young, showed traces 
of care, which plainly indicated the canker of hard work and 
poverty. Yet she had an intelligent, spiritual look, which 
showed her to be in thought and feeling, far above most of 
her fellow workmen in the great bookbindery. 

“There, Aunt Rhoda, you’ll have to submit gracefully. If 
further proof is wanted I’ll bring Upjohn.” 

“ Oh, the children will stand up for you, and say anything 
you want ’em too, es far es that’s concerned.” 

66 Of course Mr. Tom can’t be runnin’ to see us every few 
days,” said Little Hackett. “ He has lots o’ places to go.” 

“ There, do you give in now? Besides, Aunt, I’ve been 
out West lately.” 

“ I want to know,” said Aunt Rhoda. The expression 
“I want to know” was one of frequent use with Aunt 
Rhoda. It did not express any special desire for information, 
but was merely a stock phrase, by means of which she ex- 
tended her store of ideas, over more space to keep company 
with her colloquial ambition. Stock phrases are the ballast 
of speech. In themselves they are of no value, but they help 
to trim the bark. 

“ Oh yes, took a flying trip to Illinois,” said Tom. 

“ Tell us all about it,” said Little Hackett, who was now 


x 3 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


interested. He had always had a longing for travel, but 
knew the utter impossibility of ever realizing that longing, 
with his poor health and small means. 

“That would take too long, Johnnie. But I’ll tell you 
one thing. The people out there beat all creation for getting 
around lively.” 

“ I want to know.” Strangers hearing this peculiar 
Yankee idiom for the first time, have been known to go into 
the most minute and tedious details, while they marveled in- 
wardly at the questioner’s apparently unappeasable desire for 
information. Tom knew better. He continued, with emphasis: 

“ Why Aunt Rhoda, I tell you what, the fresh milk and 
butter, the big apple pies, the real sausages, and the pretty 
girls just make my mouth water to think of them.” 

“ Why, Mr. Thomas,” exclaimed Mary. The Hacketts 
had been so frequently at Mr. Norwell’s place of business, 
where Tom was called u Mr. Tom,” in contradistinction of 
his father, who was only u Mr. Norwell,” or “ Mr. T. M.” as 
the case might be, that they insensibly adopted the same style 
of address. Aunt Rhoda replied: 

“Land sakes, Mr. Tom, I knew all that before you was 
born. Don’t I know that the keows give real milk in the 
country, and that sassige is made of pork? As fur the girls 
— well they was girls in them days, but nowadays they’re 
good fur nothing but to put on airs. I don’t care a snap for 
’em.” 

“ Probably you liked their brothers better in those days, 
Aunt Rhoda.” 

“ I guess there ain’t many sech likely young men nowa- 
days either.” 

Poor old Aunt Rhoda’s memory with a little tremor went 
back to one likely young man, the pride of their neighbor- 
hood, whose name had been linked with hers forty years ago. 
He was accidentally drowned, and her heart was buried with 
him. For years after that the world for her was only a place 
in which to eat, sleep, perform daily duties, and die. There 
was a pause, in which the silence was broken only by the 
ticking of the old wooden clock. All present knew her story 
and divined her thoughts. Presently she added: 

“ City life isn’t livin’. A body never gets a fresh bite or a 
clean thing.” 

“Now, Aunt Rhoda, don’t you go back on the city,” said 
Tom. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*33 


“ Folks keep rushin’ here by the thousand to drudge out 
their days. They’d a heap better go a thousand miles the 
other way.” 

“ Somebody must live in cities,” said Mary. 

“ It must be awful lonesome in the country a mile from 
anywhere,” added Little Hackett. “ But I shouldn’t mind 
that if I could see a new place every day.” 

w Everything is right at hand in the city,” said Tom. 
“ You don’t have to wait for anything. If we want straw- 
berries we don’t have to wait till they grow. We just send 
out and buy them.” 

Norwell was so used to money that he never thought of 
admitting its non-existence for some people. He only thought 
of the non-existence of strawberries in the country out of 
season. It is very easy for the millionaire to feast on straw- 
berries at two or three dollars per quart in January, or ruin 
his health with ice all summer. Things for him are very 
handy. For the poor the chief things handy are privation, 
toil and death. God made this world and its good things for 
all alike, black or white, strong or weak. But a great major- 
ity never come into their inheritance, either through their own 
improvidence or the insatiable rapacity of those who already 
have much more than they can possibly use. The world has 
steadily progressed until physical rapine is a thing of the past. 
When the rape of the penny has ceased, and not till then, 
will men be free and equal. In the course of the evening the 
Hacketts asked Tom Norwell’s advice as to the investment of 
their little legacy. Tom advised Continental & Pacific 
stock. It was sure to go much higher, and was a good thing 
to sell or keep. His father was into it very heavily, and that 
was an evidence of what they thought of the stock. 

“ If I had only a few thousands of my own I could go into 
Wall street and make a fortune in a month.” 

Little Hackett took his hat and walked a distance down 
street with Tom to talk: the matter over further. Thev had 

•j 

not gone far when they met a woman carrying a large heavy 
basket. To let them pass on the narrow sidewalk she stepped 
aside, but not observing her whereabouts tumbled down the 
steps leading to a basement. Her cries indicated at once that 
she was seriously injured. Tom sprang down the steps to 
her assistance, while Hackett called to a man who was pass- 
ing for help. This man proved to be an old acquaintance of 
the Hacketts. The three managed to carry the woman, who 


*34 


AN IRON CROWN. 


had several very severe bruises, up the steps to her own lodg- 
ings, which were near. 

While they were waiting the coming of a physician who 
had been sent for, Hackett introduced his friend Wright, and 
the talk about the Continental & Pacific was resumed. Tom 
was enthusiastic on the subject, and as a result Wright 
expressed a desire to invest a little money which he had saved. 
Tom, handing him his card, said that as a personal favor to a 
friend of the Hacketts, he could get him a thousand or two 
any time. 

It happened that Horace Roker, who was out taking an 
evening stroll, passed down the other side of the narrow street 
and recognized Tom Norwell, unknown to the latter. What 
the thoughts of that gentleman were it is not our province to 
determine. Possibly he was mentally figuring as a great stock 
operator in Wail street. Possibly he was indulging his fancy 
with the picture of a dark-eyed handsome wife, the daughter 
of a man whose name was on every tongue. If so, the sudden 
appearance of Tom Norwell must have greatly marred the 
effect of the picture. Roker stepped hastily to the next 
crossing, and whistled for a newsboy as if to buy an evening 
paper. A dirty, ragged gamin came spattering across the 
street, regardless of the muddy gutters, in breathless haste. It 
was our old friend Quill Malley. 

“Which ’ll yer have? Telergram er — ” 

“ I want no paper. Do you wish to earn a dollar? 

“ Yes sir.” 

u I’ll give you a dollar if you will follow that tall man 
yonder and see if he stops anywhere down town. Keep your 
eye on him. Then you can call to-morrow morning about half- 
past seven at that address, and get another dollar. Mind, you 
are delivering papers too when you call.” As Roker said this he 
gave a frightful scowl and drew his scalp forward threateningly. 

“ Wot was I doin’ ?” exclaimed Quill in surprise, as he 
shrank back like one half expecting a blow. 

“ No talking back. Stir yourself,” and Roker slipped a 
dollar into Quill’s hand, together with a card on which he 
had written the street and number of his fashionable lodgings. 
Quill was off like a shot. Roker watched him round the corner, 
then leisurely resumed his stroll. 

Suddenly his revery was interrupted by the reappear- 
ance of Quill before him on the sidewalk. A look of disgust 
was on the boy’s face. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*35 


u Hyur, Mister, take back yer dollar.” 

“ Why didn’t you do my errand as I told you?” asked 
Roker with a menacing scowl, as his thin lips worked a little 
with suppressed anger. 

u Please sir, I did. I knowed that feller, an’ I don’t care 
about makin’ a dollar watchin’ him.” 

“ What! You know him? Don’t lie to me, you little 
scamp,” and he made a move as if to strike Quill, who he 
saw was a thorough coward. Quill judiciously backed off a 
little distance before replying, and then said doggedly: 

“ Tell yer I do. He knows a friend o’ mine.” 
u Does he ? ” said Roker, with a sneer. 

“Yes, me’n Pipe goes to Sunday school, an’ Mr. Norwell 
knows our teacher.” 

“ Who is your friend Pipe? ” 

“ Friend ! He’s no friend. He’s my brother. Pm twins 
’n so’s he.” 

“ Ah, indeed ! And you’re not lying to me ? ” asked Roker, 
with another very uncomfortable flourish of his cane. Quill 
shrank clear back against the wall, and remonstrated against 
this insinuation that he was lying. When he remembered his 
numerous failings in this particular, he thought it very hard 
that genuine truth, told too at the expense of a dollar, should 
be discredited. This was small inducement to veracity. 

w Deed, Sir, Pm tellin’ the truth, as I never hope to draw 
another livin’ breath.” 

u Do you know what I’d do to you if you lied to me? ” 
And Roker stepped forward a little while Quill shrank closer 
to the wall. 

“ I ’spose you’d cane me within an inch o’ my life.” Quill 
had often heard his mother threaten this dire punishment, 
which she had never yet inflicted. Here was a man whom he 
believed only too willing to do it from the very pleasure to be 
derived from the exercise. 

“ Young man, you’ve guessed it exactly. What else do 
you think I might do?” 

“ I guess you’d cut a feller an’ never have nothin’ more to 
do with him.” 

u Worse than that,” said Roker, with his cynical smile. 
Quill now began to feel that if there was anything worse in 
store than a vigorous caning, he preferred to be rid of such 
disagreable company. He would have cut and run at once, 
only he really believed the sinister, scowling man with the 


136 


AN IRON CROWN. 


movable scalp to be capable of overtaking him and caning 
him on the public street. He had heard of such things hap- 
pening to men , and he was only a boy. Here was a man 
who could do it, he believed. Quill dropped the dollar on 
the sidewalk. 

M Please, mister, take yer money an’ leave me go.” 

M I’ll tell you what I’d do,” said Roker, dropping his 
voice and assuming a manner most distressingly confidential. 
u I’d just have you sent up for six months. I’m a friend of 
the Chief of Police.” Now Quill was thoroughlv terrified. 
He knew by experience what a police court was. A caning 
would no doubt be very disagreeable, but it was soon over. 
Six months was next to eternity to him. 

“ Say, mister, please don’t be hard on a kid. Wot’s the 
use? I didn’t ask fur yer money. There it is. Take it, 
and leave me go home.” 

“ What’s your name?” 

“ Quill Malley.” 

“ Where do you live?” 

“ Eighty-six Cinnamon Street.” 

“ And you’re not lying?” This was accompanied by 
another slight movement, as if about to pounce on his victim. 
tc I hope I may die in my tracks if I am.” 

“ Now, Quill, you may keep that dollar, and I shall not 
ask you to follow Tom Norwell this time. Only keep your 
eye open, and if you see him down town notice where he 
stops and who is with him. You can find me at the address 
on that card. Don’t forget the number, and don’t forget you 
are delivering papers when you call. I guess you’ll not for- 
get, will you?” 

“ No, sir, I spect I’ll not,” and, finding himself free, Quill 
darted round the corner, immensely relieved. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


MISS HARRIE SNICKER ORGANIZES A PICNIC WHICH IS BY 

NO MEANS “ COMMON.” 

The brilliant season has ended in the metropolis of the 
Western Continent. The long succession of balls, recep- 
tions, dinners, theater parties, opera, and all the innumerable 
lesser devices of the gay and fashionable to kill time, is at 
last ended, and the exhausted devotees of society are taking 
a breathing spell before renewing their diversions at the swell 
summer resorts. 

M iss Harrie Snicker had planned a quiet picnic up the 
Hudson for one of the unusually pleasant June days. Miss 
Ingledee was to assist in the arrangements, including sug- 
gestions as to the persons to be invited. Garmand stood at 
the very head of the list. Miss Harrie had improved every 
possible opportunity of cultivating- his acquaintance, for she 
argued that an Englishman who was distantly related, by 
courtesy or otherwise, to a live lord was next best thing, pro- 
vided one could not get the lord himself. Garmand had 
spent the winter industriously studying this delightfully prim- 
itive country in the rustic localities of fashionable New York. 
As the heads of these people were usually filled with nothing 
but society doings, he still had something to learn about 
America, particularly the wild tribes of Indiana, Illinois and 
other savage regions of the West. Tom Norwell, as a mat- 
ter of course, was a necessity on such an occasion. Mr. Brad- 
ley, the young gentleman who so gallantly rescued Harrie 
from the dangers of being run over in the street, was also to 
be invited. Harrie suggested that he would be so handy 
when the lemonade was to be made. 

That young man had been pursuing his one great object 
in life under difficulties. His object, I will repeat, was to 
discover how nearly a young man may transform himself in- 
tellectually into the missing link of Darwinism, without losing 

his identitv as a man. The transformation was to be accom- 
*/ 

(137) 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I ^8 

plished by means of ultra fashionable dress, ultra fashionable 
manners, insipid associations and systematic snubbing of any 
persons who chanced to possess common sense. After the 
disaster alluded to heretofore he was, for a time, under a 
cloud. He, like many unfortunate young ladies, had nothing 
to wear, and his tailor was a stony-hearted wretch who 
required a heavy deposit on orders and the balance before the 
goods left the shop. On learning of the accident Snicker, 
Senior, had inclosed a check for one hundred dollars to Brad- 
ley, accompanied by a brief note regretting that the young 
man was not an acquaintance of the family so that he might 
call and receive their thanks personally. 

Although Bradley had met Miss Snicker on several occa- 
sions, and had called on her two or three times, it seemed 
that the practical father did not consider him an acquaintance. 
According to the elder Snicker’s ideas, acquaintance was a very 
substantial sort of entity that required for its development some- 
thing moredangible than merely meeting a few times, making 
a few calls, and bowing on the street. In his mind, acquain- 
tance was for some reason indissolubly associated with a bank 
account. In a rage Bradley returned the check without a 
line of comment. He negotiated a loan from a friend. The 
society young man of this class is a wonderful financier. He 
is a veritable John Law in the matter of floating paper, and 
is forever negotiating a loan, putting up as collateral his 
expectations of a remittance next week. Bradley’s loan with 
ten days to run was successfully put on the market (his 
friend), and he was soon arrayed in suitable attire, and ready 
to devote himself to the purpose of his life. That he never 
redeemed his I O U had nothing to do with that purpose, 
except to follow as a consequence. 

Chetta suggested that Roker be invited for a reason some- 
thing in the line of that which applied to Bradley, — Roker 
would make a capital refrigerator, she said with a laugh. 
Other young ladies and gentlemen were invited to the num- 
ber of six or eight couples in all. Delicate and very expen- 
sive lunch was provided, also archery implements, swings and 
other means of amusement. The party were to take a 
Hudson River boat early in the forenoon, and return in the 
evening. 

While Alice was making her toilet for this occasion, Tom 
Norwell sat in the library conversing with his father. Tom 
referred to the wonderful progress of the West. He grew 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 39 

enthusiastic over the scenes he had witnessed at the sessions of 
the Chicago Board of Trade. He had been greatly amused 
at beholding the shouting, gesticulating, struggling mass of 
operators, who crowded around the wheat and corn pits, and 
whose conduct at times suggested the scenes which tradition 
ascribes to a Donnybrook fair. Tom thought there was 
much money to be made, and he should like to try his hand 
before others got it all. 

“There’s plenty of time, Thomas. There will be money 
made long after we are both in our graves.” 

“I am more interested in what is to be made before that, 
father. I am losing time.” 

“ Not while you abstain from speculation. That is one 
of the greatest curses of our day. Shun it as you would 
shun a plague.” 

“You’ve dipped into it, millions deep.” Mr. Norwell 
moved uneasily in his chair. 

“ My investments are hardly in the nature of a specula- 
tion, Thomas.” 

If Tom Norwell had been a trifle more observant he 
might have noticed that his father did not speak with the 
same confident tone in which he had heretofore referred to 
his stock investments. Continental & Pacific had gradu- 
ally mounted by easy steps to sixty-eight, which left Mr. 
Norwell a profit of two hundred and eighty thousand dollars 
on his forty thousand shares of stock bought at sixty-one, 
and one hundred and thirtv thousand dollars on ten thousand 
shares bought at fifty-five, in all, four hundred and ten thou- 
sand dollars. This w^as a clear profit made in a few months, 
without the expenditure of a single day’s labor, or, in fact, 
without an effort of any kind. 

Is it surprising that with such gains men should rush into 
this modern species of gambling transacted under the guise 
of legitimate business? To bet what the price of wheat or a 
given kind of stocks will be next month differs no wise in 
principle from betting whether the next card issuing from a 
faro dealer’s little box will be a king or a queen. The only 
difference between the two is that public opinion has un- 
wisely pronounced the one reputable, while it has wisely 
branded the other disreputable. One is called business, and is 
genteel; the other is called gambling, and has a certain odium 
attached to it. Both have an irresistible fascination for their 
victims. Both are widespread, the genteel form widest by 


140 


AN IRON CROWN. 


far, and both yearly carry desolation to thousands of happy 
homes. Many a man who fails in business without apparent 
cause, many a family who without visible reasons leave a cosy 
home to dwell in a shanty can trace their ruin to this uni- 
versal mania for speculative gambling. It is a national vice 
which is consuming not only the means, but the morals of the 
American people.* 

Every shining dollar has within its surface an enchanted 
mirror. Viewed from the proper angle it gives forth beauti- 
ful images of peace and domestic bliss. Turned but a hair- 
breadth from its true position it reflects the images of alluring 
sirens who lead men to destruction, some to the spendthrift’s 
riot, some to the miser’s rags, while others are turned to men 
of stone, whose cold, pitiless eyes stare forever fixed on gold, 
and their hollow voices hoarsely echo without ceasing, Give, 
give, give. After a pause Tom added: 

“ It looks to me like speculation.” 

“ No matter how it looks, my son. Avoid it if you would 
retain peace of mind and self-respect. Make money slowly. 
During the first ten years I was in business I made only ten 
thousand dollars. In the next ten I made one hundred thou- 
sand. Then money flowed in freely of itself. My son, never 
under any circumstances become a stock or grain speculator. 
As you value honor and that integrity which is far above 
gold, avoid it. It will curse you forever.” Perhaps there 
was a trifle of feeling in Mr. Norwell’s tone. At any rate 
Tom looked at his father in surprise, and exclaimed: 

“ Why, father, one would think that you had been badly 
caught yourself.” 

In truth, Mr. Norwell was uneasy. For several days there 
had been vague rumors that the mountain portions of the Con- 
tinental & Pacific would take a mint of money to build; that 
the vast expenses there would more than consume all the 
profits of the level portions which the government subsidies 
sufficed to build. It was said that the company were in straits 
for money, though how that could be it was difficult to see. 
At any rate the rumor grew and excited distrust. C. & P. 
stock declined. 

“ Oh no, Thomas, I never was bitten that way in my life. 
But as an illustration of what I was saying our stock declined 
yesterday two cents.” 


♦Note 5* — Fictitious sales of petroleum. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


14I 


“No!” exclaimed Tom in astonishment. 

“That lessens the profits just one hundred thousand 
dollars.” 

“ Sell out.” 

“ No, I hardly think I shall do that. Ophir advises me to 
hold on. He says the report about the mountain sections is 
only talk manufactured to hurt the company, and started by 
other transportation interests which are jealous of us.” 

“ Can you rely on Ophir?” 

“ Certainly! He is an old and tried friend.” 

“ Then if he says it’s all right what’s the use of worrying? 
His opinion is worth more than that of any other man, unless 
it be Ingledee’s.” 

“ Of course I am not situated so as to get any inside opin- 
ion from Ingledee. I think I shall watch the street to-day.” 
So saying, Mr. Norwell left the room. He had hardly gone 
before a servant announced that “ Little Hackett ” wished to 
see him or Mr. Tom. Hackett was at once shown in. After 
a few preliminaries he remarked: 

“ I’ve brought my money, Mr. Tom. There’s a thou- 
sand dollars. Just got it from the bank yesterday. If it does 
well, Mary will put her thousand into something of the 
sort.” 

“ I’m going up the Hudson to a picnic, Hackett. But I’ll 
write a note to Robinson, in Ophir’s office, and ask him to ar- 
range the matter for you. You ought to double your money 
in a month.” 

The note was written, and Hackett’s pale face lighted 
with a gleam of pleasure. He was going to put all he pos- 
sessed in the world into a place where it would double in a 
month. At that rate he would be a rich man in two or three 
years. Then he would satisfy the dream of his life by travel- 
ing to distant lands, whose marvelous climate and healing 
waters would infuse new life into his moribund frame. He 
would return healthy, happy and with stores of useful knowl- 
edge acquired in strange lands. Even the poor, the weak, the 
deformed, can dream as well as the best of us. 

It was a jolly company that took possession of a grassy 
slope, shaded by plenty of trees, on the bank of that most 
beautiful of American rivers, the Hudson. They had all the 
requisites for a happy day, including good health, good temper 
and high spirits. Every little accessory to the occasion which 
money could buy was there. When poor people start out for 


142 


AN IRON CROWN. 


a good time much of the pleasure of the occasion must be de- 
rived from their convicing themselves that they are really sat- 
isfied with what they have. To the rustic who has never 
seen anything refined this is easy enough. But to the poor 
person who has lived beside affluent neighbors, and has in- 
sensibly acquired many of their tastes by observation, this 
feeling of satisfaction comes hard, if it comes at all. While 
he ought to be enjoying himself his pleasure is marred by the 
unpleasant reflection that after all he cannot afford it. Philoso- 
phy is commonly supposed to ameliorate poverty. But to 
enable a person to discover real pleasure in privation, or to see 
how ten to sixteen hours per day unmitigated labor may be- 
come man’s chiefest blessing, requires an amount of philoso- 
phy seldom possessed, except by persons of an assured in- 
come, who, unfortunately for the theory, do not need it for 
economic purposes. 

All who were invited to the picnic had come, though 
Bradley was obliged to negotiate a small loan, his room-mate 
in this instance being the Rothschild who advanced the funds. 
Frederick Snicker was there, although it would not have been 
surprising had the state of his health detained him at home. 
He had lately experienced a trouble compared with which the 
affair of Luseba Aplington was not worthy of mention. 

“ Tom, old chap, do you know, I’ve been vewy uncomfort- 
able all week.” 

“ What’s the matter now, Snicker? Another love affair?” 

“ Now, Mr. Norwell, weally,I hardly expected this of you. 
’Pon my word this *is abwupt. Sir, I consider that abwupt.” 
Having given utterance to this momentous decision he threw 
his head back a little and bent his cane viciously with botli 
hands. His action was a genteel, but very, very mild coun- 
terfeit of those of the bellicose Hibernian who has an imag- 
inary chip on his shoulder which everybody declines to 
see. 

“ Beg pardon, Snicker,” said Tom laughing. “ Everybody 
knows, of course, that you are a tremendous fellow with the 
girls, but I suppose I shouldn’t have mentioned it publicly. 
Still I’ve always thought,” continued Tom, in a half-confi- 
dential tone, “ that your little affairs of the heart would get 
you into trouble sometime.” 

“ Oh, it’s all right, Mr. Norwell. Of course you meant 
no harm,” replied Snicker, well pleased by the allusion to his 
ravages among female hearts. He was evidently considered 


AN IRON CROWN. I43 

a dangerous fellow, for hadn’t Silas Ingledee and Tom Nor- 
well both told him so. 

“ May I inquire the nature of the trouble you allude to, 
Mr. Snicker?” 

“ Oh, certainly, with pleasure. You see I have a wegulah 
wotation of perfumes for each day in the week — Jockey 
Club for Monday, Patchouly for Tuesday, Ylang on Wednes- 
day, and so on. In that way the odohs get delightfully con- 
fused, you know, and overlap each other like the colors of the 
wainbow. It gives a kind of ecstatic what-the-deuce-is-it sort 
of odoh, you know, that is chawmingly confusing and excites 
cuwiosity. Then it’s weally quite a study to discover if you 
cawn’t catch a little of Monday’s Jockey Club hanging round 
till Wednesday, overlapping Patchouly clear onto Ylang 
Ylang. Did you ever try that, Mr. Norwell?” 

“ I don’t think I could do it.” 

“ No? Weally? Well, it does requiah practice. But as 
I was going to say I got Wednesday’s perfume by mistake on 
Tuesday. That put the whole week out of joint, and I’m 
afraid next week will hardly straighten it out.” 

“ That’s too bad. You ought to put the day of the week 
on each bottle on a plain label.” 

u I do, but you see I made a doocid bad break, and forgot 
the day of the week.” 

Everybody was laughing, talking, and having a jolly time. 
Chetta Ingledee’s rosy cheeks and sparkling black eyes pro- 
claimed her supremely happy. Alice Norwell, usually so 
sedate, was as playful as a kitten. Miss Snicker’s laugh rang 
out continuously. Somehow, it had very little depth to it, 
but its length was apparently interminable. Some of the 
young gentlemen were retailing the superannuated jokes which 
they had kept carefully packed away and neatly labeled 
“ Suitable for the society of ladies.” Some of the young men 
and young ladies, too, had the very latest, smartest, brightest 
bon mots which they handled in a way that reminded one of 
children playing with edged tools. 

Bradley and another young man, both of whom were in- 
vited to be useful, were adjusting a swing, and getting ready 
for croquet. Mr. Roker was, with unparalleled levity for him, 
making lemonade under Chetta’s superintendence, and im- 
proving the time, if not the drink, by engaging in continuous 
conversation, repeatedly punctuated by his ugly laugh, that 
sounded remarkably like a snarl, in spite of the fact that he 


H4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


had all the stops of his humor on at full blast. Miss Harrie 
Snicker was bustling everywhere and doing nothing. Rush- 
ing up to Garmand, she exclaimed: 

“ My Lord! excuse me.” She added, with a becoming 
little blush: “I mean, Mr. Garmand. Can’t you assist the 

ladies in setting the table?” 

“Oh! aw — now — don’t ask — with pleasure,” he replied, 
with a very low bow. “ You couldn’t put me at any more 
agreeable occupation, you know.” 

The table was soon spread, or rather the repast was placed 
on the tablecloths, which were laid on the clean, fresh grass 
under the thickest shade. An occasional ray of sunlight 
strayed through the waving branches, and danced and flick- 
ered over the tempting viands as if it would seize them for its 
own. Now it darted into the pickles, then onto the cake, next 
it made the deep color of an orange glow with a ruddier hue. 
It was that delightful sort of guest which brings good cheer, 
tastes everything, and consumes nothing. All heartily en- 
joyed the repast in spite of the fact that red ants got into the 
sandwiches, and black ants into the pies, and a daddy-long- 
legs stuck hopelessly on top of the jelly in ludicrous helpless- 
ness, like a child stuck in deep mud. The child may blubber 
and get out with the sacrifice of his shoes. The daddy-long- 
legs is obliged to leave some of his superfluous limbs which, 
perhaps, he doesn’t miss greatly. 

The only incident that interrupted the flow of festivity, 
was a huge black spider, with an aldermanic body and an ab- 
normal development of legs, which darted under the folds of 
one of the young ladies’ skirts. There was a chorus of 
screams, a great rustling of drapery, and the agile limbs of 
several maidens transferred their fair possessors suddenly to 
the top of a mossy log, a point of vantage where no spider 
would care to venture. The daring aggressor was never seen 
again, and the festivity was resumed. A picnic is enjoyable 
chiefly because it is a picnic, and not from any occult machinery 
within it for producing happiness. As spiders and bugs 
cause a lively remembrance of the fact that a picnic is going 
on, they must in the natural logic of events contribute greatly 
to the pleasures of the occasion. Doubtless, this is the reason 
why picnickers always select a locality prolific in insects. 

After dinner some swung, some gossiped, some strolled, 
some talked soft things at the foot of the great trees, others 
romped with zest. Since they were not under the eagle eye 


AN IRON CROWN. 


H5 


of Propriety, nearly all flirted assiduously. Tender words 
which seemed almost to presage tender declarations, fell on 
the ears of willing maidens like the sweet honev dew on the 
fresh leaves of the forest. The sentiments were sweet, and, 
though they meant nothing, as both parties fully realized, 
they served as an excellent practice in the art of refined flirt- 
ing which has reached such a high state of perfection nowa- 
days among people of leisure. 

When the noonday sun had somewhat spent its forces it 
was decided that all should go boating. At the blast of a tiny 
silver trumpet the party reassembled, interrupting several 
very interesting tete-a-tetes. Some of the boats were just 
large enough for two, others would hold an entire part}^. 
Those which held two were in great demand. In fact, Tom 
Norwell and a few other gentlemen had hired theirs quietly 
first thing on entering the grounds that morning. Roker 
would have given a great deal could he have had Chetta in 
one of these boats all to himself. But he was too good a gen- 
eral to challenge his enemy to combat when the advantage 
was all on the other side. Pie suspected that Tom and Chetta 
already had an understanding on the subject of the boat. 
Roker had established confidential relations with her over the 
lemonade, and had even managed to get his fingers tangled 
up with hers, opening a package of sugar. She had been 
frank, and almost gracious. He would not spoil all that by at- 
tempting too much. He was right in his surmises, for Tom 
appropriated Chetta as a matter of course. He did it as easily 
and naturally as a robin would appropriate your early cher- 
ries. Aren’t cherries made to be eaten? 

In spite of Roker s philosophy and his determination to 
bide his time, his heart gave a great bound that sent the 
surging blood in volumes which threatened to suffocate him. 
A biting pang of jealousy shot for an instant over him, that 
maddening, unendurable sort of jealousy which springs from 
a feeling that a rival is preferred, and that your claim is in 
reality exceedinglv poor, while apparently your chance is 
equal with his. His face showed color in spite of himself, and 
his scalp darted forward, hut instantly resumed its place. He 
turned quickly away to look at the boats, and in a moment was 
the same dignified, polished icicle as before. 

Miss Snicker had managed to secure “ My Lord ” Gar- 
mand, and was exceedingly happy. Bradley had been very 
attentive to her; had peeled her orange at dinner, and taken 


10 


146 


AN IRON CROWN. 


a little stroll with her in search of wild flowers. Though 
without any heart, she still had a little conscience, and she 
felt that something was due to her preserver. But after all, 
what right had a twenty-dollar clerk to presume? Indeed, if 
it wasn’t for his exquisite complexion and splendid manners, 
and handiness to fetch and carry, he would be disgustingly 
common. He ought to know enough to keep his place. It’s 
all well enough to fall in love, that is very nice, but to pre- 
sume is quite another thing. Thus reasoned the woman 
whom Bradley thought most of. Miss Snicker felt it incum- 
bent on herself as projector of the party to see that every- 
thing went off smoothly. 

w Mr. Bradley, will you please enter a large boat? I 
know you are the best boatman in the party, and should be 
where your services will do most good.” Half angry at the 
compliment with which he was dismissed, Bradley entered 
the large boat with Roker, Alice Norwell and others. 

Garmand and Miss Snicker were gliding smoothly over 
the clear water before his easy English stroke. It was much 
easier to manage the boat than to manage his companion. 
When a man devotes a lifetime of study to one subject he is 
called a specialist. Miss Snicker was apparently a specialist, 
for her talk ran chiefly on the relative merits of clam pie, 
fried oysters and lobster salad, the thrilling rythms of the 
lancers and other fashionable dances, or the latest thing at the 
milliners and dressmakers, which, of course, a horrid man knew 
nothing about. Literature, art, music, she knew so little of, 
that she had sense enough to avoid them. She wished to 
appear well in his eyes. He was anxious to switch the con- 
versation off in a direction that might arouse a trifle of in- 
terest. She had already told him half a dozen times on pre- 
vious occasions that she was passionately fond of clam pie. 
He was not liable to forget that. He wished to localize an- 
other idea center, and remarked: 

“ This spot is delightfully primitive. I suppose there are 
Indians further back in the hills?” 

“ No, I guess not. I think there are none closer than 
Niagara Falls.” 

“ Do they ever — aw — scalp tourists? I was reading this 
morning that a scalper was arrested somewhere out West.” 
u No, they only peddle beads and moccasins.” 
u Ah, they are of a mercenary turn of mind. How sad to 
s see this simple son of the forest become avaricious.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


HI 

u Oh, I think, Mr. Garmand, they are perfectly horrid. I 
can’t bear the sight of one. Please don’t mention the dread- 
ful creatures.” 

“ Suggests tales of cawnage,” hastily replied Garmand. 
66 Beg pardon most humbly, Miss Snickeh, for mentioning 
a disagreeable subject .’ 7 He scarcely knew what to say 
next. This young lady was incapable of talking about any- 
thing unpleasant or common. She had no subjects of her 
own to suggest. Yet she wished to appear well in his eyes, 
and was afraid that she had offended him. She suddenly had 
a brilliant idea. She would talk about Europe. That was not 
common. She began: 

“ England must be a great deal nicer than this country, 
isn’t it, Mr. Garmand?” 

“ Oh, yes, to be sure.” This was so much a matter of 
course that he seemed surprised at her mentioning it. 

“ It must be just too exquisite for anything,” she went on. 
“ Only think of the lords and ladies and dukes and earls and 
balls and parties and things.” The word thing is a very con- 
venient one to bridge a chasm in a train of thought. In this 
case it stood for all the elegant details of English high life. 

“ It is unequaled elsewhere in the world,” he replied with 
true English feeling of superiority. 

“ Oh, I do wish I could lire there. This country is so 
common.” Then Miss Snicker blushed a little in spite of 
herself, for she had unconsciously betrayed a secret wish of 
her heart. He, however, did not appear to notice it. 

“Of course this country is common,” he admitted in a tone 
which implied it was pitiably common, “ but then you see it 
is a delightful study. Everything is so absurdly fresh, you 
know, right from nature, and so very easy got at. I 
almost wish I was a poet or a painter. Have half a mind 
to become one or the other, just to take the thing in 
properly.” 

“ It must be exquisitely delightful to associate with lords 
and earls and dukes and duchesses. Only think! no danger 
of meeting any disagreeable people.” Suddenly she queried : 
“ Mr. Garmand, how do you tell a duke from an earl?” She 
spoke of them as if they had been newly-discovered animals, 
without the advantage of having been frequently pictured in 
books. Hence her question was a pertinent one. 

“ That’s very easy, indeed,” he replied. 

u But how , I’d like to know.” 


148 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Well, you see, you must know the earl or the duke, you 
know.” 

“ Is that all ? Don’t they have any badges or stripes or 
marks about them?” 

“ They’re much like other men, save the lordly air, 
you know.” As God had nothing to do with the making of 
dukes and earls, contrary to Miss Snicker’s opinion, these 
noble productions of royalty can not be easily distinguished 
at all times from common clay. 

“ I’ve coaxed pa to let Freddie and me go to Europe, but 
he says it’s no use till we get older and have seen more of 
this country. But don’t you sometimes get the nobility all 
mixed up and call a count an earl, or a duchess a nabob? ” 

“ No, that’s easily managed when you once understand. 
It takes practice. It scarcely comes by nature,” he replied, 
as he quietly looked at her to observe the effect of the 
remark. The conversation was getting too deep for both 
of them. This shallow-brained girl might yet discover that 
with all his money Wyndleigh Garmand knew very little of 
the nobility by association. Though distantly related in a 
shady sort of way to an obscure peer, he had never been in 
the very best society but a few times in his life. It was evi- 
dently much safer to talk about America, — a subject neither 
of them knew anything about. He would willingly talk, if 
there was no danger of annoying questions about details. 
Had he ever enjoyed the blessed privilege coveted by many 
Englishman of having at some time been kicked by a lord, 
he could have referred to the distinguished event with pleas- 
ure. He had had no such good fortune. By way of chang- 
ing the subject, he inquired : 

“ Where are the great plains, Miss Snickeh? ” 

“ Whiteplains ? ” 

“No, the great plains that we read of where a fellow can 
travel for days and weeks, you know, and see nothing but 
buffaloes and wild bears?” 

“Oh!” she said carelessly, “ I understand now; they are 
away out West.” Just where apparently made no differ- 
ence. Their conversational resources were utterly exhausted. 
Neither spoke for some minutes. 

Meantime Chetta and Tom Norwell were having a thor- 
oughly good time. They had known each other so long that 
there was no restraint between them. She was happy. She 
felt her power to keep him at her side, although he had 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 49 


never spoken of love, and had never really considered himself 
her lover. Thev rowed to shore, and joined the rest of the 
party. Two servants, who had charge of the impedimenta, 
were busy transferring the things to the steamer, and soon all 
were on their way to the city, thoroughly tired, but agreeing 
that they had a most delightful time. 


CHAPTER XV. 

REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. 

Wall Street was uneasy. For some time there had been 
a feverishness in the stock market. There was no panic, nor 
was one feared; but the general feeling was one of distrust. 
On the day following Mr. Norwell’s conversation with his 
son, Continental & Pacific had dropped two cents lower, 
and Norwell had lost another hundred thousand dollars. In 
a few days more, at this rate, he would not only lose all the 
money he had made, but was liable to become a pauper, 
unless he chose to sell at a great sacrifice. His anxiety was 
so great that he felt the weight of ten years added to his life 
in two days. His erect figure was bowed, and deep lines 
appeared in his careworn face. Right across his path, which 
had been illuminated by golden sunshine and beautified by 
pleasant prospects, there opened suddenly, as a deadly disease v 
comes in a day, a dark, yawning chasm of ruin. In the few- 
est words possible he told Tom that stocks were unsettled 
and feverish. Tom’s advice was such as could hardly be 
expected from one of his impulsive, daring temperament. In 
brief it was “ sell out.” 

Tom never suspected how bad things really were. Mr. 
Norwell acted like one in a dream. He avoided Alice 
entirely. He dared not let her know the extent of the threat- 
ened danger. He had confidently expected to leave his chil- 
dren enough to place them in affluence for the rest of their 
lives. Now, possibly, he could not leave them what he 
began life with himself, — the practical knowledge of getting 
a living. 

In desperation, Norwell consulted with Ophir daily. The 
railway king advised him to hold on. It was only a tempo- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


] 5 ° 

rary flurry, and things were sure to improve. Congress had 
been prodigal in gifts to this colossal national fraud and its 
twin infamy engineered by the Ingledee clique. The people 
were building both roads and presenting them to the favored 
recipients of a nation’s misplaced bounty. It was difficult to 
see why their stock should decline at all. Norwell suspected 
that somebody was manipulating the stock and engineering a 
tremendous squeeze. He intimated as much to Ophir, but 
that gentleman, though a very lamb, seemed to have no fears 
of the all-devouring bear. No, he said, this was merely a 
fluctuation based, he thought, on the rumors circulated con- 
cerning the enormous cost of the mountain portions of the 
road. It would blow over, and then the stock would go 
Ti igher than ever. It did blow over, but like the cyclone that 
blows over the golden harvests and peaceful villages, it left 
only the blackness of death and desolation in its track. 

Down went the stock till Norwell’s profits were all con- 
sumed. He would fight this movement rather than be 
crushed. Little he knew the men he was fighting. They 
were as voracious as the shark, as cruel as the hyena, as in- 
satiable as death. He borrowed two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars in cash, for his own name was good any day 
for that amount. This vast sum disappeared in the quick- 
sands of Wall street, and not a ripple marked the spot it sank 
into. Down went the Continental & Pacific. Other stocks 
and interests took the alarm, and there was a general sharp de- 
cline. Men rushed hither and thither seeking money to protect 
themselves at two per cent, per day. Men suddenly began ask- 
ing themselves if the country was about to experience a great 
financial crisis. Appeals were made to the Government to in- 
terpose its strong arm between the business interests of the 
country and the pirates who were desperately attempting to 
wreck them. Norwell’s brokers in self-defence refused to 
assist him longer. He had not allowed them to close his deal 
while it was possible. It was now impossible. He must be 
responsible for losses, which were already nearly a million 
dollars. They demanded settlement. Had he been like many 
of the operators of Wall street he would have refused payment, 
and resorted to legal delays and quibbles. Probably he could 
have saved himself by ruining the brokers. At a forced sale 
it would require every dollar he possessed to satisfy them. In 
a dazed sort of way, like one who is suddenly roused from 
deep slumber and scarcely know r s for a time who he is, or 




AN IRON CROWN. 


*5* 

what he is, he signed the deeds prepared by the lawyers, 
transferred his valuable real-estate with all the securities at his 
banker’s, and entering his carriage drove home to the man- 
sion no longer his, a hopeless bankrupt. He told Tom in a 
broken voice that all was lost, and enjoined him not to inform 
Alice just yet. 

“ I shall not be down to dinner. Excuse me to her.” 

Mr. Norwell entered his library and tried to think. Had 
this calamity like an insidious disease or some foreseen ruin, 
been approaching for months or years, he could have learned 
to look it calmly in the face, and after awhile even to wel- 
come the end as a relief from suspense. It was so sudden and 
so awful he could not realize it. All had occurred in one 
brief week. As he paced the floor the conviction grew on 
him that he and others had been the victims of conspiracy f 
His blood boiled at the thought of his wrongs, till his heart 
seemed ready to burst. He had heard rumors that Ophir was 
at the bottom of the whole movement. It could not be pos- 
sible that his life long friend, the companion of his boyhood, 
his old chum at the district school, should prove such a 
deliberate, black-hearted traitor. Ah! he had forgotten the 
old, old story so often repeated in all history, that avarice and 
the love of power will turn him whom they take possession 
of into a cool, calculating, deliberate fiend. He remarked to 
Tom as the latter was starting down stairs to dinner: 
u My boy, we have been ruined by treachery.” 
a Yes, father, and the traitor shall pay for it with his life. 
He cannot hide behind the specious mask of friendship. I’ll 
spend a lifetime running him down.” 

“ It is useless, my boy,” said Mr. Norwell sadly, “they 
have the law on their side and money enough to buy courts 
and juries. If I, rich man that I was, could not contend with 
them successfully, what hope is there for a penniless boy ? ” 
Mr. Norwell could no longer restrain himself, but wept like 
a child. 

Tom excused his father’s absence from the table, saying 
important business had detained him longer than usual, and he 
felt too tired to eat anything. As for himself he had eaten a 
very hearty lunch in the middle of the day. Alice saw at once 
by her brother’s manner that something unusual had happened. 
“ Tom, there is something the matter. What is it? ” 

“ Well, the fact is, father has lost considerable money in 
the decline of prices.” 


! 5 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


M Oh, is that all,” she replied. She had always been 
accustomed to an abundance of money. What if some had 
been lost! Doubtless there was plenty left. Still she felt 
sorry for her father, and eating but little of the luxurious re- 
past, while Tom ate nothing, they left the table. Mr. Nor- 
well paced the floor in hopeless despair. By degrees the full 
consequence of his ruin became apparent. The more he 
thought of the transactions of the last few days the more he 
felt he had been robbed. Had these men come and held a 
pistol to his head and taken his money it would have been no 
more a theft. He had been betrayed, stabbed in the back by 
a sneaking foe, and that foe his so-called best friend. It was 
all apparent now, in spite of Ophir’s denials. 

II is brain throbbed till it seemed as if it would burst. 
The blood gathered in hife heart in great waves which surged 
till his very chest seemed to swell beneath their impulses. 
Suddenly there was a spasm of dreadful pain, a dizziness, 
and he fell heavily to the floor. The left ventricle of the 
heart had given away, and he who was a few days ago, the 
well-known millionaire, was now only insensate clay, over 
which two fond children knelt in piteous transports of grief. 

The panic in Wall street soon subsided. Ophir, Chryso- 
lite, and one or two others having hammered the Continental 
& Pacific down to forty, bought up vast blocks of it quietly, 
and behold! it began to rise steadily, till in a few weeks it 
was again at seventy-five, and these men had made several 
millions.* Excitement died out and business resumed its ac- 
customed channels. Few understood the cause of the panic 
those who did thought little of it. Expressions like these 
were common: “ Talk about your smart men! few of them 

can get ahead of Ophir, I tell you.” “ He’s the shrewdest 
man in this country to-day.” u Ophir has a wonderful head,” 
and so forth. The tone of these remarks seemed to indicate 
that Ophir was a citizen to be proud of, and it would be well 
if the country could only produce more Ophirs. Men would 
shun forever some unfortunate acquaintance who chanced to 
expiate at Sing Sing the consequences of his crimes. Yet 
they would boast of even a speaking acquaintance with one of 
these magnificent thieves, who steal a million at a grab, and 
use it to subvert law, corrupt law-makers, and plunder the 
people. They argue blindly, “ What’s the use to worry. 


♦Note 6. — Breach of Friendship. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*53 


Those things always right themselves. These big fish only 
prey on each other.” This fallacious and imbecile argument 
betrays an utter absence of thought upon the question. Such 
things do not right themselves as all the world’s history shows, 
where it is written in lines of greed, corruption and blood. 

A little reflection will convince anv one, that no man can 
make fifty millions honestly, nor even five millions. If he gets 
so much money, he does it by taking part that belongs to 
somebody else. The part he takes will be regulated by his 
ability to seize, or his fear of retribution. Let us not flatter 
ourselves that these freebooters will sometime get enough. 
They will continue to pile millions on millions in very want- 
onness, and their descendants will claim as a right the privi- 
leges which the present generation have the more politic im- 
pudence to buy. Conscience is no part of such men. 

Lest some one may construe these remarks as an attack on 
all wealth, let me say that large fortunes may be honestly 
made in legitimate ways. A man by a lifetime of close at- 
tention to business, combined with prudent economy, may 
become very wealthy, and remain strictly honest. I am in 
sympathy with honest wealth. It is a blessing to the com- 
munity when in the right hands. It is not a blessing in the 
hands of monopolists. It is dangerous to give any man too 
much power. These monopolists of modern days are the suc- 
cessors of the military plunderers, who in ancient times piled 
up vast fortunes by robbing conquered countries and sacking 
cities, or who in feudal times, levied blackmail at the head of 
a band of savage soldiery; or of those titled locusts, who in 
the sixteenth century fattened on the people under the guise 
of royal grants and favors. Money and power were the ani- 
mating motives of all. The pirate of old boldly proclaimed 
his calling. The pirates of our own great republic plunder 
the people in the insidious disguise of public benefactors, 
under subsidies granted by subservient legislative bodies. 
Shall we increase this class of money barons to eat up the 
earnings of the people? Or is the crop already sufficient?* 

The sad day of the funeral passed as even such davs 
must pass. Life seemed to have uo more attractions for the 
Norwells. To lose a fond parent was hard enough to bear, 
though in this case the sorrow was rendered doubly poignant, 
by the sudden and awful manner of his death. As yet they 


* Note 7. — Millionaires of the United States. 


J 54 


AN IRON CROWN. 


had scarcely given a thought to the stern fact that they must 
leave their comfortable home and work for a living. Tom 
felt this much more keenly than Alice. He lacked her 
strength of character and fortitude under adversity. Besides, 
he was now constantly thinking of the hardships she must 
endure in entering the already crowded avenues of employ- 
ment, to earn a miserable subsistence. In his bitterness he 
vowed vengeance. 

Friends condoled with them each after his own fashion, 
some in few words aptly chosen, that spoke the sympathy 
that is sweet to the heart, others in polished sentences that an- 
noyed the wounded spirit with unmeaning phrase. Heart 
speaks to heart in sorrow. He who has not suffered cannot 
console. Snicker senior thought that consolation could be 
weighed, measured and transferred like sugar. 

“ It was a squally time, I tell you, Norwell,” he re- 
marked. u Glad I wasn’t in for anything. It reminded me 
of the time when two of us tried to corner sugar way back at 
the beginning of the war. That was an exciting time, you 
can just bet. Why, once 1 didn’t sleep three hours in a week, 
and ate nothing for a month. Once the market went against 
us, and I thought we were gone up. Why, I tell you, Nor- 
well, several times I really felt as if I should bust I was so 
excited. But we came out all right, and scooped in just a 
million apiece. It takes no common head though, to specu- 
late successfully.” Tom quietly walked away from this well- 
meaning but egotistical old bore, who finished by saying to 
himself: “ Sorry for them. It’s too bad. They’re a pretty 
decent family and deserve better luck.” 

The position of Chetta Ingiedee with reference to the 
Nor wells was a more delicate one. She belonged to the very 
class who had wrought all this ruin. She only half realized 
this, it is true. Nevertheless, she wrote a warm-hearted, 
sympathetic letter to Alice, condoling with her in her great 
grief and offering assistance. Alice replied courteously, but 
declined the proffered aid with thanks. She had never quite 
approved of Tom’s intimacy with Chetta, and this letter 
smacked a little of patronage to her over-wrought, sensitive 
mind. Tom Norwell went to Mr. Ingiedee in the course of 
a few days, and begged him to disclose the inside facts of the 
recent squeeze. Ingiedee pitied the broken man before him, 
but evaded a direct answer. He said when urged: 

“ It will do you no good, Norwell. The thing is done. It 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*55 


was a disagreeable affair for a great many people, though 
you have suffered most. Frankly, I tell you there is no 
redress. You might as well give the matter no further 
thought.” As well ask a man with a raging toothache to 
laugh and make merry. Ingledee little suspected the kind of 
redress Tom Norwell meditated. The latter, after a mo- 
ment’s silence, continued: 

“ Mr. I ngledee, I lay it all to Ophir. He is the prime 
mover in the whole diabolical scheme. Am I notiri^ht?” 
Ingledee was silent, but that silence was itself an answer. Tom 
rose and remarking, “ He is a scoundrel and double-dealing 
traitor,” left the office. 

That night Mr. Ophir sat in the private office of his pala- 
tial residence. Tom Norwell sat in what had once been his 
father’s cosy library, trying in a vague way to devise some 
plans for the future. Something must be done soon, for ab- 
solutely nothing had been saved from the wreck beyond his 
sister’s jewels, and a few other articles of personal property of 
no great value. His gloomy meditations were disturbed by a 
knock at the door. A servant entered and announced that 
Miss Hackett wished to see him. With a start he realized 
her errand in an instant, and told the servant to show her in. 
Aunt Rhoda was accompanied by Little Hackett. She began 
before she had scarcely entered the room : 

“ This is sorry work for all of us, Mr. Tom.” 

“ It is indeed, Aunt Rhoda.” 
u Is it as bad as reported? ’ ’ 

“ It is worse.” 

“ There must he something left? ” 

44 Not a dollar.” 

“ Oh don’t say that, Mr. Tom,” she exclaimed in a hyster- 
ical kev. “ What will the poor, sick boy do? Every cent 
he had in the world is gone. For him my brother and me 
toiled an’ scrimped an’ saved because we knowed he never 
could take care of himself. No, you won’t be so hard-hearted, 
Mr. Tom?” she begged with tears in her eyes. “Keep out 
his thousand first: he needs it worse than them rich men. Do, 
won’t you?” In the agony of Mr. Norwell’s last business 
transactions Hackett’s poor thousand was entirely forgotten. 
He could and would have gladly saved it, but such a small 
affair stood no chance of being remembered amidst transac- 
tions involving millions. It was too late now. 

“Aunt Rhoda,” replied Tom sadly, “ I would save it if I 
could, but it is gone, all gone.” 


J 5 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


u There’s always a way to pay the rich first and cheat the 
poor. But God sees sich cloins, and he’ll take account of them 
as sure as there’s a judgment day.” Tom took no notice of 
the implication on his father’s motives, for the poor woman 
was heside herself over the loss of their bit of money. Little 
Hackett meantime had said never a word. He was in reality 
a child yet, for whom others must speak. 

“Aunt Rhoda,” said Tom, “it almost breaks my heart to 
think of this business. It might have been all right if I had 
not advised you to put your money into it.” 

“When things were goin’ so bad I think you might ’a 
saved his any way, seein’ he’s a poor crippled orphan.” Here 
Aunt Rhoda gave way- in a burst of sobs. It was useless to 
reason with this woman, for she knew nothing of business. 
But Little Hackett would not hear anything said against his 
former benefactor. 

“Aunt Rhoda,” he said, “ what’s the use of taking on so? 
The money’s gone, and I guess that’s the end of it. Mr. Tom 
wasn’t to blame, and I know his father wasn’t, for he was too 
good a man to cheat anybody. As for the money, I’ll get 
along without it some way, just as I have done. Maybe I’ll 
wear out a little quicker, but I don’t care. Money never 
could make much out o’ me any way. I’ll not make another 
complaint. I don’t think it’s right, for Mr. Tom and Miss 
Alice have lost 'so much more than we have. They’re used 
to plenty of money, too, and can’t get along without it. ’ Then 
there’s their father too ” — here Little Hackett could no longer 
control himself. Great tears coursed down his cheeks. He 
turned and walked slowly from the room, followed by Aunt 
Rhoda, neither saying another word. 

For a brief time Tom Norwell felt almost like a convicted 
criminal. He had been the means of causing these poor peo- 
ple, who were his friends, to suffer a great loss. However well 
meant his intentions had been, the result was disastrous, and in 
his overwrought, nervous condition he accused himself more 
than he should have done. He now realized that he should 
not have advised any one to invest money subject to such dan- 
gerous contingencies. He felt as if the old days had returned 
when might made right. It was little use to expect justice 
unless one carried the remedy in his own hands. With this 
desperate feeling a sudden resolve shaped itself in his mind. 
He went up stairs with an eager, nervous step, took his hat, 
placed a shining little pistol in his pocket, and walked 
rapidly toward Fifth Avenue. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


“ VENGEANCE IS MINE.” 

Mr. Ophir’s office at his residence was a comfortable room 
off the library on the first floor. Electric bells communicated 
with the stables, the conservatory, the kitchen, in fact with all 
parts of the house. He had only to touch a certain button 
when his. coachman appeared, another, and the butler ap- 
peared, another, and the stalwart Italian emerged from soihe 
mysterious recess at the rear of the house. 

The spirting gas jets shed a pleasant softened glow around 
the little office. Mr. Ophir’s spirits were in a like mellow and 
satisfactory condition. He had engineered the great squeeze 
in Continental & Pacific successfully. He had sold out high, 
hammered the stock down, bought it up again, and now 
owned most of the stock with a clear million in ready cash as 
the profits of the transaction. True, he had ruined scores of 
men, but what of that? He laughed to himself as he sipped 
a little wine and nibbled a cracker. He sneered at the people 
whose laws and institutions made such things possible. He 
thought they were a pack of d — d fools, who deserved to be 
swindled. He felt secure in his high-handed disregard of 
public rights, for this most daring outrage of all had attracted 
no particular comment or censure, except from a few persons. 
Most of the community knew little about it and cared less. 
Hs had enough money now, and certainly was not lacking 
the brass'to bluff, buy or bulldoze his way through thick and 
thin, come what may. 

It was very difficult to approach the person of this great 
man. He had constantly a fear that some unpleasant visitor 
might wish to see him unexpectedly. Like the worshiper of 
God the worshiper of mammon must pay pew rent, and this 
apprehension was one of the penalties which Ophir paid for 
notoriety. On the evening in question the muscular porter 
whose duty it was to attend the front door, contrary to 
orders, abandoned his post for a few minutes to a house- 
maid. 


(i57) 


AN IRON CROWN. 



Norwell struck the heavy knocker, trusting to luck to get 
inside. 

When the housemaid opened the door he slipped quickly 
past her, saying, “ T have a special appointment with Mr. 
Ophir;” passed quietly down the main hall and turned into 
the recess leading to the door of Ophir’s office. Turning the 
handle, he stood like an apparition before that gentleman. 
Ophir rose without betraying any surprise, drew another 
chair forward, and courteously asked Norwell to be seated, 
remarking : 

“ I’m glad to see you, Norwell.” 

c< I haven’t come to sit down, Mr. Ophir. We can trans- 
act our business better standing.” 

“ We can talk more comfortably sitting. You have busi- 
ness, I presume. I’ll order some refreshments.” 

“ Touch that button and you are a dead man,” said Tom, 
instantly placing the shining barrel of his revolver to Ophir’s 
temple. The latter withdrew his hand from the vicinity of 
the little button in the wall, shifted his head so as to look Nor- 
well in the eye, and calmly replied: 

“ Mr. Norwell, I’m surprised. Why do you slip into my 
house in the guise of an assassin? You have lost your senses 
evidently. You were born a gentleman.” 

“ And have lived to be ruined by a traitor.” 

“ Harsh words and violence do not remedy wrongs. If 
you have a grievance, state it;” and again he shifted his 
head a little from the dangerous weapon. 

Tom Norwell stood astounded at the coolness of this 
man, who never betrayed fear by word or gesture. He had 
expected that Ophir would plead for mercy like a guilty 
wretch, when, after hearing his humiliating confession, he 
would shoot him like a dog, though the gallows were the pen- 
alty. But here was a man who had no confessions to make, 
no whining to do, no pleading for mercy. Tom’s anger 
flamed tinder such unblushing effrontery till a very devil took 
possession of him. 

a Words can not express the contempt I feel for the traitor 
who will betray his best friend and rob his family. Oh, curse 
your cool villainy ! You shall die like a dog!” Ophir started 
back at these words a little, but Tom’s quick eye discovered 
that the movement which simulated fear really brought his 
victim dangerously near the row of electric buttons. He con- 
tinued in a hoarse, low tone: 


AN IRON CROWN. 1 59 

“ Don’t move another step. I can kill you as well where 
you stand.” 

“ Mr. Norwell, do you really mean to kill a defenseless 
man?” asked Ophir, in a calm tone, which only exasperated 
Tom further. 

“ Yes!” he hissed. 

u Think of my family.” 

“ You never thought of mine.” Norwell was not natu- 
rally a cruel man, nor even a strong willed one. His impul- 
sive nature was quick to resent a bitter wrong. But to do 
such an awful deed he must do it at once. He felt his resolu- 
tion waver, but the mention of family brought all his wrongs 
back in an overwhelming rush. He exclaimed: 

u I’ll give you one minute to ask God to spare your guilty 
soul; only one.” 

“ So short a time is useless,” and Ophir hung his head, but 
betrayed no sign of fear. Was this immovable man made of 
iron? Had even death no terrors? Or did he hope that time 
would wear out the resolution of his dreadful enemy? Or, 
perhaps, he expected relief? The silence was oppressive. It 
seemed an age since Tom had entered the room, although only 
two or three minutes had elapsed. After a brief pause Ophir 
replied slowly, and with bowed head, as if he felt at last that 
his time was really come: 

“ I’m not prepared to die. Wait. I’m very thirsty. Let 
me have one more drink of water.” In a little recess was a 
marble wash basin, with hot and cold water pipes. Norwell 
saw there were no electric bells there, and said only: u Be 

quick.” Ophir stepped toward the basin. Instead of turning 
the faucet of the water pipe he touched what appeared to be 
a towel peg inside the recess, and then turned on the water 
and made busy filling a tumbler. In a moment the door 
opened and two powerful men seized Norwell from behind 
and disarmed him. He remained a moment in speechless 
amazement. Had an earthquake rent the walls he would not 
have been more surprised. 

M Cui *se him! What a fool I’ve been.” 

“ Call a policeman,” was Ophir’s calm order to a servant. 

Norwell was clearly trapped. He might be sent to state’s 
prison without the poor satisfaction of having rid the commu- 
nity of his enemy, who was a foe to society. He struggled 
to free himself, but the two strong men held him with an 
iron grip. 


i6o 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ I’ll have my revenge yet,” he cried to Ophir. 

M You had better not criminate yourself, Mr. Norwell,” 
was the only reply. 

He had not long to wait. A policeman soon entered and 
arrested him on the charge of attempting to commit murder. 
Tom lay that night in a cell in the Tombs. 

The news of the attempt to kill Ophir in his own home 
spread with incredible rapidity. Late as was the hour, the 
evening papers got out extras, with startling head lines which 
might have led any one not familiar with the enterprise of 
modern journalism to infer that one-half of New York was 
murdering the other half. Newsboys yelled, “ All about the 
assassination of John Ophir.” One sensational sheet put it: 
“ Awful crime on Fifth avenue; cold-blooded slaughter of a 
railway king; the assassin seized in the presence of the bleed- 
ing victim and his horror-stricken family.” 

People discussed this startling episode in restaurants, in 
saloons, at street corners and on the way home from the thea- 
ters. While men shuddered at the reported horror of the 
crime, there was a strong under current of sympathy for the 
wrongs of the miserable man who had attempted it. Had 
the deed been all that this sensational sheet depicted it, there 
would have been difficulty of convicting Tom Norwell of 
murder by a jury of his peers, such was the feeling which 
suddenly sprang up against the nefarious operations of John 
Ophir and his fellow conspirators. 

When the papers appeared and Pipe Malley caught the 
words which he was to cry to attract custom, he waited for 
no more. He flew in hot haste up town, running the whole 
distance. Out of breath and exhausted he ran up the broad 
entrance of the Ingledee residence and rang the bell furiously. 
His ring had something in it which presaged important tid- 
ings. Who has not sometime in his life seen or heard the 
coming of a messenger whose dire errand is told before a 
word is spoken. It may be tidings of a great calamity, of sud- 
den ruin, or of death. Whatever it may be, the dread event 
is felt in the ominous look or gait or action, or even the time 
of comino' of the messenger. The heart sinks before the tale 
is told, for somehow we feel that the worst has happened. 
The startled servant answered the call with unusual alacrity. 
Pipe’s excited appearance and breathless manner plainly told 
there was something wrong, and the servant at once asked for 
his message. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


161 


44 I — I hain’t got no messidge. I want to see Missus In- 
gledee.” 

44 You can’t see Mr. Ingledee. You must tell me your 
business.” 

u I got no business, I tell yer. I come to tell suthin’ to 
her.” 

“ To whom ?” 

44 Why, I tole yer, to Miss Chetta Ingledee.” 

44 Oh, Miss Ingledee. Well, you can’t see her this time of 
night. I’ll carry your message to her. What is it?” 

44 Hain’t I tole you I hain’t got no messidge? I must see 
her. It’s awful important,” saying which Pipe dodged inside 
the door. 

44 Plold on there, young fellow,” said the man, 44 you can’t 
come that game,” and he seized Pipe by the arm. 44 Now tell 
your errand.” 

44 I tell you I will see her,” cried Pipe, struggling to free 
himself. 64 They’ll mebbe hang him before she gits there.” 
Chetta having heard the violent ring at the street entrance 
had opened the door of her room on the second floor, expect- 
ing to receive some message. She listened, but could make 
out nothing till she heard Pipe’s voice, and caught the last 
words of his speech. She ran hastily down the stairway and 
inquired : 

44 What is the matter, Pipe?” Suddenly Pipe began to 
realize that it might be a rather delicate affair breaking the 
news of her lover’s danger to Miss Ingledee. In his haste he 
thought of nothing but reaching her as soon as possible. Now 
he knew the startling fact should be broken gently. He was 
no adept in the art of broaching a subject gradually, so blurted 
out only : 

“It’s awful!” 

44 What’s awful, Pipe?” 

44 Mebbe the awfulest part’s over, mebbe it isn’t.” 

44 What do you mean, Pipe?” 

44 I’m afraid to tell you ail to onc’t.” 

44 Pipe, have you lost your senses ? Tell me what’s hap- 
pened,” she added, impatiently. 

44 Kin yer stand it all in a heap?” 

44 Something has happened to Silas,” said Chetta, with a 
shudder. 

44 No, ’tain’t Silas ! But it’s about the worstest thing I 
ever seed. in the paper.” 


ii 


162 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Pipe, if you don’t tell me at once I’ll shake you.” That 
young gentleman really did not know how to get at the sub- 
ject of Norwell’s disgrace, for he surmised it would be very 
disagreeable news to the high-spirited young lady, and he 
wanted to spare her all he could. But there could he no 
further delay. He stammered out: 

“ Mr. Nor well broke into Mr. Ophir’s house an’ nearly 
murdered him with a pistol an’ knife, I guess, an’ then got 
himself arrested an’ — an’ ” — 

“ And what?” said Chetta, who clutched the railing hard, 
but never screamed, or gave any other indication of the vio- 
lent emotion she felt. 

“An’ they chucked him inter jail.” No one spoke for a 
brief time, and the servant eyed his mistress curiously. If this 
startling news affected her much she did not show it. Pres- 
ently she said : 

“ Is that all, Pipe?” 

“ Well, I’d like to know if that hain’t a nuff.” 

“ I mean, have you told me all.” 

“ Yes, I thought mebbe — mebbe you might want to know 
it afore you seen the papers.” 

u It’s very kind of you, Pipe,” and she slipped a coin into 
his hand. 

“ I’m very much obliged to you besides.” 
u Oh, it wasn’t no trouble at all. I was cornin’ this way 
you see when the ideal* kinder struck me.” With this well- 
intentioned little fib, Pipe took his departure. 

Chetta sat down to think. Her best friend was in sore 
trouble, and needed help. Her first thought was one of bit- 
ter anguish at the disgrace which attached to his imprison- 
ment like a common malefactor. A moment’s reflection told 
her that the sufferings of the innocent can never disgrace them. 
But was he innocent? He had attempted to commit one of 
the blackest crimes in the criminal calendar. But had he not 
such provocation as few men could calmly submit to ? Though 
premediated killing of a human being is always murder in the 
eyes of God, there are certain cases in which men, though 
not encouraging it, tacitly admit that it is justifiable. She 
loved this man, and found no difficulty in discerning his justi- 
fication, especially since his attempt had proved abortive. She 
could, and would secure his release. 

Miss Ingledee went to her father at once and laid the whole 
matter before him. He was greatly excited. He thought 


AN IRON CROWN. 


163 


these promiscuous attempts on human life were becoming too 
common. His own life might be taken any time by some 
disappointed man who imagined he had a grievance. He was 
sorry for Norwell, whom he really liked, but he thought the 
best thing was to let the young man suffer the consequences 
of his rash act. 

But Chettawas not to be turned away. She pleaded the 
long and intimate acquaintance between the families. If 
friendship is worth anything it ought to be worth something 
in time of need, she said. Besides, Norwell had really suf- 
fered grievous wrongs, and was in a great degree excusable. 
Mr. Ingledee winced a little at the thought of what those 
wrongs were, and replied : “ When a man goes into Wall 

street after another fellow’s skin he can’t complain if his own 
is taken.” Chetta argued this was different. The Norwells 
were not speculators, and had been cruelly wronged. The re- 
sult was that Mr. Ingledee reluctantly consented to visit 
Ophir and endeavor to have the prosecution dropped. 

The latter gentleman on reflection had concluded next 
morning that a trial which might bring out prominently so 
many important facts, was not a pleasant prospect. He readily 
consented, and Mr. Ingledee that day appeared in court as a 
bondsman for Tom’s appearance when wanted. The latter 
did not really know who had been instrumental in securing 
his release. He attributed it to the disinterested kindness of 
Mr. Ingledee. He thanked that gentleman with tears in his 
eyes. Ingledee’s only reply was: 

w It’s of no consequence whatever. But be very careful 
in the future, Norwell.” 

Tom Norwell left the court room with a sense of shame. 
He was not only ruined but disgraced. He avoided his friends, 
for in his overwrought emotional condition he imagined they 
might openly shun him. He determined to leave the city of 
his birth where such irretrievable ruin had overtaken him. 
He scraped together a little money from the few available 
possessions remaining to him and securing a respectable home 
for Alice, with some friends, prepared to go to Colorado. 
Hickley was authorized to look after a few matters which 
might require attention. The lawyer kindly offered assistance, 
which was declined by Tom. G arm and also said in all sincer- 
ity, “When you want anything, my boy, draw on me at 
sight.” 

Tom had been corresponding for some time with Wilson 


164 


AN IRON CROWN. 


on the subject of their mutually seeking their fortunes in the 
land of silver. They now decided to carry their project into 
execution at once. Hackett had claims which Tom was not 
disposed to forget. It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps 
the feeble hunchback might grow stronger in the salubrious 
climate of the Rocky Mountains. He hinted as much to Lit- 
tle Hackett and offered to take him along. Hackett was de- 
lighted at the prospect., Aunt Rhoda and Mary consented 
after much anxious deliberation, and the few preparations 
needful were soon made. 

Bidding adieu to New York, Tom and Little Hackett 
proceeded at once to Chicago where they were joined by 
Wilson. Here they all purchased tickets for Denver, and 
were soon speeding over the boundless prairies of the Great 
West. All indulged bright visions of the rich silver mines 
which might be discovered in the vicinity of the wonderful 
city of Argenta, which had risen like magic on the head 
waters of the Arkansas. 


CHAPTER XVII. 

A CITY IN THE CLOUDS. 

Argenta is a city in the clouds. Let the person who dwells 
on the great prairies, or by the seashore, imagine himself 
suspended in the air at the height of just tw r o miles, and he 
will have the exact elevation of this El Dorado whose untold 
wealth of silver for a time filled the world with wonder. It 
is situated in the basin of the Arkansas, though the term basin 
may be misleading, for the river is here but a small creek, and 
the basin, though comparatively level, is only a vast trough 
between two ranges. Gradually rising on the sides, it blends 
into the tops of the mountains themselves at times. On such 
a slope is situated Argenta, partly on level land, the outskirts 
of the city gradually and ambitiously extending up the hills to 
the very mouth of the great mines. In many cases the “dump” 
or debris from the mines dangerously encroaches on the build- 
ings, so that the man who finishes and moves into his house 
this month, may find himself obliged to move out next month, 


AN IRON CROWN. 165 

or be buried under a vast crawling mole of stone and dirt that 
grows larger and more threatening day by day. 

Argenta sprang up in a day. Where before there had 
been only a dreary waste of snow for nine months in the year 
over which no living thing cared to venture there was now a 
bustling city of board-shanties, log-huts and an occasional 
tent. Twenty years before in the golden days men came by 
hundreds and turned the alluvial gulch into a waste of coarse 
gravel and stones, took out a liberal quantity of gold and de- 
parted, leaving the fabulous silver deposits under their very 
feet, or clogging their sluices as a troublesome waste. Ar- 
genta became at once a city of several thousand inhabitants, 
I will not say souls, for some of the citizens appeared never to 
have had any. It had two banks, two daily papers, a fire de- 
partment and a calaboose. 

Everybody bristled with 44-calibre revolvers, Arkansaw 
toothpicks and profanity. In this electrical atmosphere, under 
the excitement of a mad quest for silver and the aggravation 
incident to intimate association with the mule and the burro, 
plenteous oaths seemed as necessary to the overwrought emo- 
tional faculties as were bacon, flapjacks and coffee to the phy- 
sical nature. In addition to the stock of classical oaths, the 
robust vigor of which is the peculiar heritage of the Anglo- 
Saxon race, new ones were coined for new occasions. As a 
consequence they were curt, cumbersome, or polygonal, ac- 
cording to the demands of the situation. 

The population of Argenta was cosmopolitan in nativity, 
American in activity and Western in its free and easy man- 
ners. There was, in fact, a large element whose manners 
were perhaps, too free and easy. The city swarmed with 
cyprians, roughs, gamblers and adventurers of every descrip- 
tion. A score of highly-seasoned dime novels could have 
been written on the spot without any perceptible diminution 
of material. As long as these easy-mannered but eccentric 
citizens confined their carousing, gambling and shooting 
within reasonable limits, — for such things are recognized as 
necessary in mining communities, and consequently have 
proper limits, — all was well. It was considered proper that 
they should occasionally paint the town red. 

But when they went so far as to hold up respectable citi- 
zens in their stores in broad daylight, and politely request a 
loan at the point of a six-shooter, said respectable citizens, in 
mass meeting assembled, swore one mighty oath in unison 


1 66 


AN IRON CROWN. 


and said the thing should be stopped. To emphasize their 
decision they elevated several of the roughs a few feet from the 
ground in a state of suspension, notwithstanding the fact that 
the altitude of the locality was already considered almost too 
great for perfect health. Thereafter order reigned except 
when one gang of determined, desperate men attempted to 
jump some mining claim held by another gang of equally 
determined, equally resolute men. Then bullets flew and 
blood ran, but this was considered a state of affairs which 
necessarily accompanied the development of a rich mining 
region. 

The climate of Argenta was by no means an agreeable 
one. Snow lay on the range across the Arkansas the year 
round, and was liable to fall in the streets of the city any 
day in the year. The air was raw and penetrating, in mid- 
summer necessitating fires at night. During the so-called 
summer, cold, drizzling rains or drenching showers fell for a 
time almost daily, to be followed sometimes by a light snow- 
storm which marched in ghostly columns across the desolate 
peaks in the distance. In the high altitudes the sun shines 
with great brilliancy through the thin atmosphere of a sky 
that is at times nearly black. His rays penetrate your thick 
clothing, causing a disagreeable feeling of warmth. You sit 
for a few moments in the shade of a spruce tree, and feel a 
chill creeping rapidly over you. In short, this miserable pre- 
tence of a summer is what the people of temperate climes 
would call very disagreeable autumn. Argenta furnished 
unusual inducements to the ambitious citizen who is possessed 
with a desire to die in his boots. If he escaped a pistol bul- 
let, pneumonia might kill him before he could get them 
off. Many a stalwart, ruddy, young man came here in the 
flush of hope which belongs only to youth and health, seek- 
ing silver. This dread disease struck him down, and in one 
week he returned to his Eastern friends, who still had his 
kisses on their lips, — a corpse in his coffin. 

In this city of the clouds arrived Tom Nor well, Arthur 
Wilson and Little Hackett, after having endured a three-days’ 
stage ride over alkaline plains and one of the most difficult 
passes of the Rocky Mountains. They were heartily glad 
that their long journey from New York was ended. Little 
Hackett was very tired. Even the sublimity of Rocky Moun- 
tain scenery and the picturesque phases of life which were 
exceedingly novel to him, could not banish from his mind the 


AN IRON CROWN. 


167 


uncomfortable fact that he was very weary. This feeling 
was aggravated by the great altitude, which made breathing 
difficult. A short run of ten rods ended in exhaustion. 

They went at once to the best hotel, where they paid six 
dollars per day for dollar-and-a-half accommodations. As 
their resources were limited, such an expenditure was not to 
be thought of for any length of time. Next day they went 
to a cheap lodging, intending in the language of the country 
to “ rustle.” A rustler is a man who prowls around the 
mountains all day long with a pick breaking rocks and scratch- 
ing up the thin soil, looking for a lead. At night he comes 
back as tired as a galley-slave, and as hungry as an office- 
seeker. He mixes dough for a flapjack which, under the 
influence of heat, swells to an unsightly cake about an inch 
thick. By dint of continual turning in the skillet, he cooks 
this mass till it is as black as charcoal on the outside and in a 
condition admitting of mastication inside, though a person 
unfamiliar with the curiosity might take it for putty. In this 
same skillet he fries a liberal allowance of bacon. The aris- 
tocratic rustler has also in his culinary department a coffee-pot 
without a spout. It is a rare old antique, richly encrusted 
inside and out with the accumulated grease, grime and dirt 
of many years’ rustling. This coating, which he looks at in 
the light of artistic ornament, is strengthened by hairs from 
his burro and lint from his blanket. He treasures this fin- 
ished, rare old work of art as a smoker cherishes his meer- 
schaum, which daily grows in ripening beauty. The absence 
of the spout on his cofiee-pot recalls the winter he spent in 
New Mexico, where it was melted off; the tow string which 
prevents the lid from getting lost suggests the big rush to 
Bonanza City, where he thought he had struck it rich. And 
so the very dents in the side are fraught with old memories. 
The rustler who happens not to be in affluent circumstances, 
may possess neither donkey to carry his provisions nor coffee- 
pot in which to brew this delicious elixir of mountain life. In 
the latter case he gets along just as well with an old tin can. 
The rustler sits on a log and devours his flapjack and bacon, 
washing it down with copious draughts of coffee, plentifully 
sweetened, and imbibed from a tin cup which is also an 
antique. 

After supper he lights his pipe and goes to the camp of 
another rustler. They lie about their claims and how many 
capitalists they have on the string till ten o’clock, when they 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I 68 ' 

go to bed. This simple operation is not attended by the pre- 
liminaries observed in genteel society. It consists in tucking 
his blanket closely around him as he snuggles up to the warm 
side of a log or some pine bushes. A few brush are between 
him and the twinkling stars. He sleeps soundly, but dreams 
at times of pockets, horses and leads with all their dips, spurs 
and angles. 

And so the rustler prospects for years, always hoping to 
strike it rich, but never striking it at all, until some day he is 
suddenly, perhaps violently, ushered into that mysterious 
realm whose unknown regions are little less mysterious than 
his life was here. 

When Norwell, Wilson and Hackett had learned by a few 
days’ observation what a rustler really was, they modestly 
resolved not to aspire to his high condition. Hard as the lot 
of a prospector may seem, it was to be envied compared with 
the condition of these New Yorkers in a cheap Argenta lodg- 
ing house. The best in the city was scarcely decent^ but this 
was the most sickening, filthy, repulsive den that ever mortal 
man set foot in, short of a pest house. It was the resort of 
miners who were dead broke, and tenderfeet who, having 
gauged their funds by what their money would purchase at 
home, found to their dismay that their slender means sufficed 
here to pay for only the very poorest accommodations. 

The miners were clad in heavy woolen shirts and the ordi- 
nary pants which they wore when they came to the country. 
Over these were brown duck overalls and an outer coat of the 
same material. The latter garments were literally glazed 
till they shone with grease and dirt acquired while undergoing 
the culinary operations of the camp, for here the male sex did 
the cooking, women being few, and those not of the sort that 
men take to their domestic altars. The strong points in favor 
of this homely cloth of universal use was the fact that a grease 
spot was about the color of the original, and when the stuff 
was thoroughly fortified with a coating of dirt, there was no 
wearing it out. Its absence invariably marked the tenderfoot 
who had just arrived. 

The filthy beings who resorted to this lodging house had 
been strangers to a bath possibly for years. There were no 
facilities for bathing indoors, and there is not much temptation 
to plunge into a mountain stream which emerges from snow 
a mile or so above. - These men were steeped in dirt till it 
became a part of their very natures, and excited no more 


AN IRON CROWN. 


169 


thought than it would had they been without sugar in their 
coffee for one meal. Yet nearly all of them had been brought 
up with proper regard to decency, many of them in refine- 
ment. Such is the power of association and stern necessity. 
They sat around the big metal stove, which was kept in full 
blast night and day, and squirted tobacco juice over the filthy 
floor and lied about their claims, that is, nearly all of them 
did. Occasionally a man was met who still had faint glim- 
merings of truth in him. Men who were so reduced in cir- 
cumstances as to stay in this foul den, where the hot air reeked 
with tobacco, whisky and numerous unclassified evil odors, 
indulged in such conversation as the following: 

44 Jim, goin’ to work yer claims this summer? ” 

44 Only ’sessments I reckon. I kin afford to lay easy and 
wait. Mose, I tell you what, I’ve got the biggest thing this 
side of the range. There’s the ‘Horn Silver King,’ that’s a 
daisy. It’s worth a hundred thousand. Then I’ve got an ex- 
tension on it. Call that the ‘Jumbo.’ The 4 Little Lucy’ 
is right across the gulch. She’s no slouch, and don’t you for- 
get it.” 

“Jim, I guess I’ll not work much this summer either. 
What’s the use? There’s the c Mountain Queen.’ She’ll 
make me a fortune and more. Was offered fifty thousand 
cash for her last season. Got an assay on her that was eigh- 
teen hundred an’ forty last week. Wy, the ruby silver in 
her would make your eyes bung out. Bet yer boots there 
never was the like in this camp. How’s that, Jim?” and 
he produced from a side pocket a little bit of rock about the 
size of a walnut. 

44 D — d rich stuff, Mose. Got much of it? ” 

44 Pay streak four feet thick. Oh we’ve got it bigger than 
an elephant.” 

The little piece of ore was carefully returned to the pocket. 
It was really very rich in silver. It had been cabbaged from 
a paying mine owned by a New York company. 

44 Mose, me an’ the Myers boys an’ John Doubledecker is 
talkin’ of gittin’ up a big sindercate to control the whole hill, 
an’ stock the cussed thing out and out for a million. What 
do you think of that? ” 

u I dunno. I’d ruther have a quarter of a million spot 
cash an’ be done with the thing. But you kin bet yer life no 
capitalist is goin’ to monkey with me. If any capitalist wants 
the 4 Mountain Queen ’ at fifty thousand, or the 4 Last 


170 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Chance ’ at forty, or the c Rough an’ Ready ’ at twenty-five, 
he kin have ’em. If he don’t want ’em all he’s got to do is 
to say so, and give some other feller a chance. Say Jim, lend 
me a quarter to pay for dinner? I’m expectin’ a letter from 
Missouri to-day or to-morrow, an’ I’ll pay you then.” 

“ Durn near strapped myself, Mose, but I guess I kin 
make it.” The two bonanza kings then retire to the restau- 
rant adjoining to fill upon baked beans, bread and coffee. On 
inspection the “Last Chance,” the “Horn Silver King,” the 
“ Little Lucy ” and the “Jumbo” would prove to be mere 
gopher holes in the hillsides, while the splendid pay streak 
four feet thick would dwindle to a little quartz seam in the 
rock about the thickness of a carving-knife blade. This con- 
versation is an expurgated sample. The original is much 
more profusely punctuated with unique oaths and comical ex- 
pressions of emphasis. 

To say that Norwell, Wilson and Hackett were disgusted 
but poorly expresses their condition. They were sick, sick at 
heart, and sick at the stomach. At night when they retired 
things were no better, in fact worse. The rude pine bunks 
were arranged one above another, stateroom fashion. Sweep- 
ing and bed-making were unknown about the establishment. 
There was no place to sit down, no place to hang clothes. In 
fact, it was contrary to the custom of the country to take them 
off on retiring, excepting a few of the outer garments. Had 
they known at first of their insect bedfellows, of a species 
whose appearance is easily recalled by soldiers of the civil 
war, they would have camped under the pines at the risk of 
pneumonia. This dismal discovery w T as postponed for a few 
days. During the day they could not stay outside much, be- 
cause of the chilling mountain air, which was positively dan- 
gerous to new comers, and particularly to a weak person 
like Little Hackett. 

Their meals at the restaurants were simply abominable. 
The party unanimously agreed it would not do to squander 
their inadequate means by eating at the two or three fairly 
decent places where prices were fabulous, considering that the 
fare was mostly canned food. One morning they went to 
three restaurants before making a meal. They thought with 
fond regret of those places in New York where a large, 
delicious oyster pie can be had for fifteen cents. The discon- 
tented inner man was in a constant state of rebellion, which 
greatly increased the discomfort of the outer man. After all, 




AN IRON CROWN. I 7 1 

the kitchen is the true domestic altar, and the cook chief 
priest. Desecrate the altar, and happiness flees the premises. 
In after years Norwell and Wilson looked back upon the 
week spent in Argenta as the most completely and aggravat- 
ingly miserable period of their lives. 

They had come to this country to prospect for silver. 
Argenta was the best place in which to learn all about the 
various mineral districts of the State, for here were miners 
from all quarters of the country. Hardships were necessary, 
and they might as well accustom themselves to the ways of 
this rough country at once. They talked with a great many 
men. Acquaintances are made here in five minutes, and 
comrades for the season picked up in an hour. Almost inva- 
riably these partners are true to each other. Their interests 
are henceforth one for life or death, sometimes the latter. 
After much investigation and discussion the party decided to 
go over the range into the famous “ Gunnison Country.” 

During their wanderings around town Norwell one day 
met an expert. He had seen the man once before on the 
train when the}^ entered the State. He was returning from 
the Black Hills “ busted.” For the benefit of those who may 
not happen to know what a mining expert is, I will say that 
he is a man who knows nearly as much about rocks as the 
Divine Providence which made them. Doubtless had he 
been present at the creation he could have rendered invalua- 
ble assistance in setting up the geological part of the concern. 
He can see clear through a mountain and tell just what is con- 
cealed in its stony bowels, that too, almost before he has left 
the nearest hotel. He can also see through that species of 
being picturesquely known in the West as a u Sucker,” and 
he has been known to see clear through a capitalist who has 
wealth to plant in promising mines. His organ of sight is 
not less remarkable than that of the celebrated far-seer in the 
German legend. The expert is usually well dressed and car- 
ries a gold watch. His tongue is not so glib as that of the 
lightning rod peddler, nor are his remarks so definitely 
directed toward a visible object. He talks calmly of porphyry, 
shale and granite, mingling remarks about pyrites, galena, 
gray copper, black jack, and refractory ores till the listener is 
astounded at the expert’s vast wisdom, and confesses to him- 
self with shame the colossal proportions of his own ignorance. 

This particular expert, whose name was John DofFmeyer, 
lacked the gold watch and the good clothes, but he had the 


1^2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


rocks in his head, if there were none in his pocket. He care- 
lessly unfolded to Tom the nature of his mission to the min- 
ing regions. His motives were unexpectedly disinterested; 
for a reasonable sum he would advise miners as to the value 
of their property, or assist in locating new mines. His advice 
would save a great deal of time which might otherwise be 
wasted in experiments. It was cheaper to hire such a man. 
The shortness of the season, for snow would cover the moun- 
tains in eighty days, made time a great object with Norwell 
and Wilson. The latter was opposed to hiring the* expert, 
whose greasy, seedy appearance was not prepossessing. 
Tom, who felt his ignorance of practical mining, was in 
favor of employing him. Norwell had studied the subject of 
geology a little at college, and this man’s knowledge of rocks 
was good so far as he could test it by examination. The ex- 
pert finally said, as he was hard up he would go on a “grub- 
stake.” On the grub-stake plan one man furnishes every- 
thing needed for the outfit, and is entitled to a share such as 
may be agreed on, of all the other finds. It w r as settled that 
DofFmeyer should go on these terms. 

Doffmeyer was in himself a study. He was scarcely 
medium height, but rather stoutly built. He wore a bleached- 
out, dirty-yellowish suit, which w~as so soiled and greasy 
from roughing it, that no one could discover the original 
color. His gray flannel shirt had no collar, and his boots 
were worn to the verge of extinction. He had a lusterless 
gray eye, very light frizzy side whiskers, pug nose, large 
mouth stained constantly with tobacco, and greasy com- 
plexion. The latter would probably have had a natural 
healthy color under the effect of soap and water. He wore a 
cheap silver watch and a charm consisting of a little compass 
dangled from the brass chain. This compass would prove of 
great service should he get lost while prosecuting his wonder- 
ful discoveries in the mountains. He had an appetite like a 
mill saw, as Tom soon discovered to his cost, and proved as 
lazy as a fat dog on a hot August noon. Altogether, he was a 
unique specimen, even for that country, so rich in biped 
curiosities. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


ROUGHING IT. 

Heartily sick of Argenta, the party decided to go to the 
little town of Buena Alta, some sixty miles distant, and outfit 
there, preparatory to crossing the divide into the Gunnison 
country. Buena Alta was a bustling place. It had sprung 
up like a mushroom as soon as the railroad reached that 
point. Perhaps it might disappear as suddenly when the ter- 
minus of the road moved on, leaving only an extended debris 
of old tin cans, gunny sacks, and shank bones of hams to 
mark its site. Nearly all the houses were made of rough 
spruce boards. The more pretentious were lined and ceiled 
with white cotton cloth. Many of the inhabitants, like the 
Arab, were abiding in tents. Everybody owned from one to 
twenty mines, as they termed their claims, most of which 
had no ore, many no work done of any consequence, some 
only a stake sticking in a vast expanse of snow. They talked 
of mines as an Eastern man might mention how many pairs 
of shoes he had. 

This was a country of boundless wealth, though nobody 
seemed to be burdened with a surplus of ready cash. In fact, 
his cash was the most attractive thing about a tenderfoot, as 
the new comers were called. Straightway the men of ex- 
perience who had graduated in the ways of the country laid 
plans to relieve the confiding tenderfoot of his wealth. 
Usually the plan pursued was to sell him dilapidated old 
tents, skinny donkeys or worthless mining claims, once pos- 
sessed of which no ray of happiness again cheered the miser- 
able man till they were got rid of, which usually happened by 
abandonment, when the tenderfoot turned his disheartened steps 
eastward to bid the infernal country a last adieu. Often how- 
ever, one of nature’s real noblemen, who has too much regard 
for the feelings of a fellow being to cheat him deliberately, 
“ held up ” the unsuspecting tenderfoot at the point of a u 44 ” 
six-shooter, kindly relieved him of his purse and watch, and 
courteously requested him u to make tracks.” The tracks 

( I 73) 


174 


AN IRON CROWN. 


were made with dispatch toward the most frequented part of 
the town. 

Norwell and Wilson purchased a tent, a pick and a shovel, 
a drill, some giant powder, which was in greasy sticks about 
the size of a candle and covered with waterproof paper, some 
fuse and percussion caps, a hammer, and other lesser prospect- 
ing requisites. For the commissary department they bought 
flour, meal, bacon, rice, coffee, sugar, dried apples and peaches, 
a gallon of maple syrup, several cans of jellies and butters, 
with other small articles which they considered necessaries. 
A portable sheet-iron stove with pans for baking, a frying- 
pan, sauce-pan, coffee-pot, knives and forks, etc., completed 
the culinary department. They had stuff enough to start a 
small kitchen in full running order. The expert viewed these 
preparations with great satisfaction. He had evidently struck 
a “snap.” A rustier would have started out afoot with ten 
pounds of flour, ten of bacon, two pounds of coffee, a spider, 
a pick, and a blanket. 

To carry all these manifold possessions they had purchased 
three burros, after much inspection and bargaining. Buying 
a donkey is very much like the legendary transaction of buy- 
ing a pig in a poke. There is no use haggling. One donkey 
is as good as another if he is as big. No living man can tell his 
age within half a lifetime. The burro himself seems in- 
different on this point, and though his melodious voice is 
often lifted up in song, he has never been known to warble 
“ Darling, I am growing old.” What becomes of all the 

donkevs is as hard to answer as the time-honored conundrum 
•/ 

what becomes of all the pins. The oldest inhabitant with 
his tenacious memory and fertile imagination never saw one 
die a natural death. Their worst foe is the heavy snow of a 
Rocky Mountain winter when the valleys are covered deeply. 
Horses, mules and donkeys are turned out to rustle. The 
horse, with superior sagacity and strength, paws through the 
snow to the coarse grass and manages to keep off starvation. 
The miserable burro mopes and dies a lingering death, cut off 
from grass, old gunny sacks and bacon rinds, all of which he 
devours with zest. 

Of the animals purchased one was a large jack with long 
gray hair, and a temper slightly soured by contact with an 
unfeeling world. Another was an old brown, Mexican jack. 
He looked not unlike a mummy, and if appearances went for 
anything, must have made his advent into this world away 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*75 


back toward the time of the conquest of his native country by 
Cortez. The third was a little female about the size of a 
large Newfoundland dog. The three with their pack saddles 
were bought for eighty dollars, and the owner, who was a 
physician, kindly threw in a prescription for the cure of moun- 
tain fever. 

The animals were driven round to be packed. There was 
outfit enough to load a two-horse wagon for the mountain 
road. It made an appalling bulk compared with the diminu- 
tive beasts that were to carry it over the range. Packing a 
burro is in itself the triumph of the prospector’s profession. A 
tenderfoot can no more do it well the first time, than he 
could dance a Highland fling on a tight rope without practice. 
It is easy enough after a few trials to sling a sack of flour 
on one side of the saddle, which exactly resembles a saw 
buck, and a sack of bacon on the other side. But when it 
comes to slinging on top of that a sheet-iron stove and several 
joints of pipe, some bread-pans, a deep sauce-pan with a long 
handle, a coffee-pot with a big bail, a spider that objects to 
fitting in anywhere, a pick the shape of a rainbow, a shovel, 
a drill which is liable to slip out suddenly and chop off some 
of the operator’s toes, a gunny sack full of fruit cans that 
seems to weigh half a ton as you lift it to the very middle of 
the load, a roll of blankets, a tent, a tent pole with a vicious 
iron gudgeon in the end of it, and various other little camp 
trinkets — I repeat when an attempt is made to pack all these 
on an impatient little animal, who realizes that he has fallen 
among philistines, the effort is liable to suggest that there is 
a limit to human achievement. It is possible to get your 
cargo aboard, but it must be packed and sinched till it will 
ride all day, up hill and down, follow the donkey as he jumps 
a mudhole all fours, stay by him when he runs under a 
scraggy tree, brushes a pointed rock, or toils up a steep angle 
in the mountain trail. 

The packing was begun and during its continuance sundry 
reflections were made from time to time, some of them 
philosophic in their nature, while others were disconnected 
and rambled from any well-defined subject. But what was 
lacking in logic was more than made up by vigor of declama- 
tion. The donkeys shifted and stepped continually as their 
burden grew to surprising proportions. This animal can 
carry an immense load considering his size, but he dislikes to 
do it. The despised donkey is much misunderstood in this 


176 


AN IRON CROWN. 


country. He is not vicious. He very rarely kicks or bites. 
He endures every hardship patiently and will submit to 
shameful abuse without an attempt to resent it. The loads 
after much changing, tying and untying, shifting and adjust- 
ing, were finally thought to be in place, tied by a gordian 
knot of small rope. Then it was discovered that the can of 
maple syrup had been forgotten. Tom tied it by a string to 
the side of one of the loads and exclaimed triumphantly: 

“ There, Wilson, I’ll bet my hat that’ll ride. Get up, 
Jerry.” 

Jerry, who doubtless marveled greatly at the unusual time 
consumed in packing, got up with alacrity. The donkey, in 
this respect, sets a useful example to man. He starts the 
instant the packing is completed. Jerry proceeded about two 
rods when the gunny sack full of canned food gave a lurch 
to leeward and pulled all the rest after it. The load strewed 
the ground or hung suspended beneath the animal, — the sad- 
dle having turned for want of sufficient sinching, as the 
operation of girthing is called. Fortunately Jerry was the 
staid old Mexican who never gave way to excitement. He 
stopped and waited to be packed again. 

In course of time another start was made. Pretty soon 
the stove pipe slipped out of the rope which tied it. More 
delay. After another very transient bit of locomotion, the 
pick slipped down, and began to excavate among the ribs of 
the unfortunate donkey; then the coffee-pot endangered its 
usefulness by bumping against the stove; next the cork came 
out of the maple syrup can, and that savory compound trick- 
led over everything, sticking together the long hair of the 
burro. Some time elapsed before anything else happened, 
and a mile or two began to establish a delusive confidence. 
Before long it was discovered that the pick had all the while 
been surreptitiously boring a hole in the bottom of the coffee- 
pot. An old gunny sack was inserted to keep the peace. 
Another short move and one of the burros began to exhibit 
signs of dissatisfaction at existing arrangements. The stove 
had settled down till the sharp iron corner jobbed him in the 
back at every step. Another gunny sack was inserted. By 
and by the load of the gray jack with the defective temper 
began to get out of balance, and the uneasy animal tacked to 
one side of the road, as if he contemplated climbing a tree. 
Such a load, once unbalanced, can never be righted short of 
removal. It was useless to hang first the sledge-hammer, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


177 


then the drill on the light side. Apparently another donkey 
hung there would have availed nothing. It must all be 
repacked, which consumed at least one hour’s valuable time. 

And so the weary day is consumed, slowlv climbing 
higher up the mountain road, following a noisy, spluttering 
tributary of the Arkansas. At night the weary men and 
animals are only too glad to shelter in some quiet dell 
shaded by dark and gloomy pines, where a crystal mountain 
stream gurgles among the rocks. The camp-fire burns 
cheerily, and is very grateful in that chill mountain air. 
The bacon is soon fried, biscuits baked, black, strong coffee 
made, and an appetite such as the city man has no concep- 
tion of, gives a zest to this homely fare, which makes it taste 
better than the daintiest viands. After supper stories are told. 
If there is a camp liar along, as there usually is, he does his 
fine work at this time. DofFmever told marvelous stories of 
the Black Hills and Utah. Little Hackett, to whom the 
freshness of nature and the grandeur of the scenery was a 
never-ending delight, discovered new beauties wiih each mile 
of progress up the wild glens of the Rockies. 

On they journeyed, day by day, up the little creek into 
the thin air of the highest altitudes. Breathing grew diffi- 
cult. The cottonwoods disappeared, and only the hardy ever- 
green timber was to be seen. Then they passed the timber 
line, and some of the highest peaks in the United States 
lifted their storm-beaten, granite heads in silent majesty above 
the clouds*. They were crossing the Cottonwood Pass. I 
remember reading of mountain passes when a boy. My 
childish conception was that a pass was a level open way, as 
smooth as a turnpike, and about as wide. I also remember 
that the Rocky Mountains were depicted on the map by a 
winding dotted line which gave an impression that they 
attained considerable elevation. I supposed this stupendous 
system to be a winding ridge, something like a railroad fill, 
only on a magnificent scale. O geography, how delusive are 
thy teachings to the mind of childhood, when not supple- 
mented by a skill 1 ul teacher! A mountain pass is usually 
simply a place where it is possible to climb over at all. The 
Rocky Mountain system, instead of one petty ridge, has a 
width of hundreds of miles, with range after range, peak 
beyond peak, open valleys, yawning canyons, and solitary 
buttes, scattered in wild confusion. Perhaps many of our 
opinions of mature years would be found as imperfect as the 


12 


1 78 


AN IRON CROWN. 


child’s notions of geography if we only took the trouble to 
find out by a little thinking. Man is an animal who thinks 
under protest. 

Each day the travelers grew a little more footsore and 
weary. Each day the task of packing the animals became a 
little easier. Each day hope rose higher as the party 
approached the end of their journey, — the silver-ribbed moun- 
tains where treasure awaited them, though to most miners it 
proves as fleeting as the bags of gold which, as a child, I was 
told lay concealed beneath the ends of every rainbow. 

The only incident which might have proved of impor- 
tance was a fire in camp. It was on Slate River, a clear, 
rushing tributary of the Gunnison. Norwell rose first, and 
stepped out of the little tent into the clear, frosty, mountain 
air. Though it was July, the temperature was below the 
freezing point, and the mud along the water’s edge had a thin 
crust frozen over it in places. Norwell was cook for the 
party, Wilson attended the donkeys, and Doffmeyer got wood 
and water. The tent was pitched beside a little clump of 
cottonwood trees. Norwell thought that a bright fire would 
add greatly to the comfort of the situation. Thoughtlessly 
he struck a lighted match into the dry trunk of a prostrate 
and decaying cottonwood. Soon a genial blaze sprang into 
the air, snapping and crackling among the brushwood, and 
creeping forward almost like a thing of life. Tom cried out, 
“ Get up, boys,” for the fire was very near the tent. 

In this dry, electric atmosphere everything buVns. Green 
grass, green brushwood, even the green leaves on the trees, 
burn viciously as they will nowhere else. Many an unfortu- 
nate camper has lost his little outfit in some lonely mountain 
gulch by a fire which was thus carelessly started by himself 
or another. In some cases the loss of property is not the 
worst, and only blackened corpses, with the iron utensils of the 
outfit, mark the scene of the dreadful disaster. The fire will 
climb and seethe and crackle and roar around naked cliffs, 
where there is apparently next thing to nothing for it to feed 
upon, all the while emitting dense volumes of suffocating 
smoke, pungent with the burning gum of the pine and spruce. 
It will climb to the very top of a lofty pine tree, transform- 
ing it into a flaming pillar of fire. 

At length Tom began to be alarmed for the safety of the tent. 
The fire, not satisfied with licking up everything on the ground, 
was climbing to the very tops of the green cottonwood trees 


/ 


AN IRON CROWN. 1 79 

twenty-five to thirty feet high, and wrapping them in flames 
which emitted dense volumes of whitish, steam-like smoke. 
Wilson and Little Hackett were dressing. The Expert was 
still in bed, wrapped in his blankets. He was always the last 
man up, but managed to strike a good average in prompti- 
tude by being first at the table. The fire gave one mighty 
swoop, engulfed the trees only a few feet from the tent, and 
showered down sparks all over the flimsy cloth structure, 
setting it on fire in a dozen places. 

Wilson and Norwell, fully realizing the danger, with a 
few jerks wrenched the tent pegs from the sandy soil, and 
dragged the tent to a place of safety on the prairie. The 
Expert, who now thought it advisable to rise at once, was 
left en dishabille shivering in the cold mountain air. Seizing 
a blanket, he enveloped his scientific person in it, grabbed his 
clothing, and fled to the prairie to complete his toilet. 

By strenuous exertions everything was saved, though the 
fine new blankets had little holes burned in them, and the 
tent was rather liberally supplied with air holes about the size 
of bullet holes, through which the rain afterward dripped 
dismally, as a constant reminder of the exciting episode on 
Slate River. It was a narrow escape from a serious disaster, 
for in that remote region it would have been utterly impossi- 
ble to replace the outfit. 

The hardships of this rough life told severely on Little 
Hackett. In a few days he was taken with mountain fever. 
In many cases this disease greatly resembles certain forms of 
fever and ague. The poor hunchback, with pale face and 
cc goose-flesh,” shivered over the roaring camp fire, the very 
picture of abject misery. He was burning up in his vitals 
and freezing at his extremities. His head seemed ready to 
burst from the combined effects of the altitude, the disease 
and the quinine which he took every hour. When nature 
made a supreme effort to throw off the disorder there was an 
uncomfortable flushing which in a vigorous constitution would 
have been fever. This was followed by a reaction in which 
the sufferer shivered in a way that was pitiable to see. An 
herb grew in the mountains, which was a sovereign remedy, 
but they were not certain just what it was, and so adminis- 
tered the world- wide remedy, quinine. They had little hopes 
of his recovery, and camped for a while to see if rest would 
enable him to cope with this formidable disease. To their 
great joy he was perfectly well in a few days, and felt better 


AN IRON CROWN. 


180 

than before. After a toilsome tramp of ten days, which a 
rustler would have made in five, the party plodded wearily, 
late one Saturday afternoon, into the little mining town of 
Ruby Buttes, situated in the Elk Mountains. 

Ruby Buttes had many attractions for the miner. It cer- 
tainly had none for the tourist or the person who was unwill- 
ing to dispense with the most ordinary comforts of life. The 
straggling town lay in a rough mountain gulch over ten thou- 
sand feet above the level of the sea. This gulch was little 
else than a vast stone pile covered thinly with soil. The main 
street ran up the center of this great mountain hollow. On 
either side the ascent soon terminated in the abrupt steeps of 
the mountains, whose sides had been covered with a heavy 
growth of stately spruce timber. These magnificent trees 
sprang into the air as straight as a ruler, the slender tufted 
tops waving gracefully in the mountain breezes. Most of the 
timber had now fallen before the ruthless axe of the miner. 
The American seems to have an instinctive enmity to trees. 
His heart pulses with delight to see a lofty monarch of the 
forest fall before the axe. If he does not wish to use a tree 
he often cuts it down merely for the sake of destroying it. 
This blind and senseless waste is about to result in a timber 
famine. 

The houses were built of logs or spruce boards. The log 
houses were covered with dirt which made an excellent roof 
in this climate. Split logs were first laid on as the sub-struc- 
ture, then spruce trees were peeled to the height conven- 
iently reached by a man, and the bark laid on somewhat like 
shingles to prevent leaks. Over this was thrown about a 
foot of dirt carefully beaten down. Such a roof would with- 
stand heavy rains with few leaks. Some buildings of consid- 
erable size consisted merely of a framework of scantling over 
which was tacked for roof and sides white cotton cloth form- 
ing a gigantic tent. Some still lived in small tents. In the 
mining district of Ruby Buttes were gathered twenty-five 
hundred miners who were literally honeycombing the hills in 
the mad quest for silver. Gambling shops and dance halls 
were in full blast. There were several stores, and a smelter 
was about to open. 

Nor well, Wilson and Hackett spent the next day, which 
was Sunday, looking around town and mingling with the 
miners to pick up “ pointers.” They knew it to be Sunday by 
the reckoning in their diaries. There were no other visible 


AN IRON CROWN. 


iSl 


signs which indicated the fact. The second commandment, 
along with several others, does not penetrate to a mining 
camp until sometime has elapsed after location. In fact, it 
never seems to become fully naturalized, but always appears 
to be on the point of migrating to more congenial climes. 

The prospects revealed by inquiry were not encouraging. 
As they neared the place forlorn, greasy miners on foot or horse- 
back met them with doleful tales of snow, hunger and privation. 
But what was worst of all was the fact that little silver had 
been seen. Hundreds remained in camp, who had spent their 
last dollar and eaten almost their last bite of u grub.” They 
must either await remittances from the East, or go to work 
as common laborers in the mines. It is hard for a man to 
swing the pick when he imagines himself worth a hundred 
thousand dollars. These ragged, hungry men clung des- 
perately to their claims, each one deluding himself with the 
belief that his were a little better than the average, and that 
somehow he would strike it rich if others did not. 

The mining fever is a mania, a delusion, a persistent night- 
mare, which deprives its victim of reason. It drives him on 
to endure rain, snow, hunger, exhausting toil, danger to life 
and limb. For what? Disappointment and the delusive 
hope that just over the range is a new camp where he is sure 
to strike it rich. He is gambling in probabilities, with the 
chances, a thousand to one against him, while he daringly 
stakes life, health, happiness. It is a passion which takes 
complete possession of its unhappy victim to leave him broken 
and penniless in old age. Like the fascination of gambling 
or the degrading spell of drink, it drives on its wandering vic- 
tim with a remorseless whip of ungratified desire. Like his 
fellow-slave of the more universal vices, the disappointed 
prospector knows that he is not wise. But he has left friends 
in the East to make a fortune in the wilds of the West. Pride 
spurs him on. He will never go back poor. One in a thou- 
sand makes a strike. Of these a large proportion squander 
their lucky prizes in gambling, or further prospecting; and of 
the remainder the majority have acquired habits which render 
them unfit to enjoy refined society. Fortunately it is a mania 
confined to a limited number of persons, and which will, with 
the settlement of the country, finally disappear. 

The camp of Ruby Buttes, which in anticipation promised 
so well, in realization was a fraud. There was really only one 
first-class mine, the great cc Ruby Queen.” This magnificent 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 S2 

claim, situated partly within the village limits, had paid a 
large profit from the very first of the working. Massive de- 
posits of ruby silver, that ran one thousand ounces to the ton, 
were found at the verv surface. In a few months the mine 

•j 

was worth a million dollars, and not for sale. As an instance 
of pure luck, it may be added, according to traditions of the 
place, that one of the original owners got his share for assist- 
ing a stranger out of the mud with his team. In grateful re- 
membrance of this favor, the prospector placed the stranger’s 
name on the first stake he set. That stake held the great 
Ruby Queen. The jubilant owners sold too soon and realized 
only forty thousand dollars for what in three months was 
held at a million. Another example of miners’ luck, or want 
of it. 

The New Yorkers had come, meaning business, and de- 
termined to do something in spite of the discouraging outlook. 
They found the entire country staked. They could not ram- 
ble about the mountains anywhere without coming across a 
stake, which read nearly as follows: 

“ We, the undersigned, claim fifteen hundred feet on this 
lead, fifteen degrees east of north by fifteen west of south, ex- 
tending seven hundred and fifty feet on each side of the dis- 
covery stake, with all dips, spurs and angles. 

“ [Signed] J ACK Wiggins, 

Jim Higgins.” 

Everything was staked up the mountain sides to the very 
clouds, and above the clouds in some instances. The only 
wonder was that the clouds were not staked, too, as the 
mountain lakes really were. Some miners had ten to twenty 
claims, while they worked none as the law required. Nor- 
well and Wilson soon found that nothing worth having re- 
mained vacant. Their only chance to secure a claim was to 
work one for an interest. There were two Germans, broth- 
ers, who had five or six claims, but were too lazy to work 
them. They proposed to let Norwell’s party have an interest 
in one, provided the latter would perform the one hundred 
dollars’ worth of work required annually on each mining 
claim. The Stengel brothers proposed to give half. Tom 
urged that, as there would be six in the party, all should share 
equally, and each have a sixth. Then his party should get 
four-sixths instead of one-half. 

u Vel, dot’s all right,” said Herman Stengel. u You kits 
four-sixths oont Bob oont me kits four-sixths.” After much 


AN IRON CROWN. 


explanation, backing out of the bargain and again agreeing, 
it finally dawned on the Dutchman’s intellect that four-sixths 
left only two-sixths for him and Bob, so the bargain was com- 
pleted, and the New Yorkers were mine owners. 


CHAPTER XIX. 

STRIKING IT RICH. 

Wilson and Norwell now made active preparations to 
begin work at once on the Bismarck, as the Germans had 
patriotically named the claim. Hackelt would not be able to 
work in the shaft, but could render valuable aid in cooking 
and going errands to town. Doffmeyer was to train the far- 
seeing eye of science on the rocks, advise about the best means 
of working, do a little prospecting and a good deal of genteel 
loafing. The first thing to be done was to move their camp 
to the top of the mountain near the claim. There a site was 
selected for the tent by the side of a mountain lake, amid the 
majestic spruces which clothed the hillside. When they got 
fairly settled they would build a cabin to live in. Off to the 
northwest the great Ruby Peak pierced the very clouds, and 
sometimes showed a covering of fresh snow after an August 
rain. To the east was the great round dome of Mount Car- 
bon. The Germans moved to the same spot for the sake of 
company. Everything was now ready to go to work. 

The Germans in their generosity had sold the new comers 
another claim on the same conditions as the Bismarck. 
It was decided to work this second first, as it was much closer 
to camp than the Bismarck. The party were in high spirits. 
They had been in camp only a week and already had an in- 
terest in two good claims. They were as well off as the Ger- 
mans who had tramped over the pass in April, carrying their 
blankets and provisions, on snow shoes. These pioneers had 
endured unparalleled hardships. The flour which the Sten- 
gels carried in on their backs would have sold readily in Ruby 
Buttes at twenty-seven cents per pound. 

On Monday morning the New Yorkers began work on 
their claim. A huge fragment of rock literally ribbed with 
galena projected from the mountain side. Galena is a very 


AN IRON CROWN. 


184 

seductive ore. Its regular cubes and fresh silvery appearance 
make it very attractive to the tenderfoot. He can see for 
himself that he has some kind of mineral beyond question. 
Most kinds of ores, and many of the very richest, furnish to 
the unpracticed eye no more indications of precious metals 
than may he seen in a brick. But the man who strikes galena 
has something he can see in large masses. There is nothing 
stingy about it — at least in the quantity of lead. It may con- 
tain twenty per cent, silver, perhaps not one per cent. The 
Expert, after careful examination and much hammering of 
pieces, decided it a good thing and predicted a body of it. 
This was highly satisfactory information. Norwell and Wil- 
son went to work with a will picking down the rock. Doff- 
meyer cut some logs in a lazy, half-hearted way, and leveled 
off a spot on which to sort ore. He grunted continually 
while engaged in labor. Work was to him a refined species 
of torture. He could pick an hour at a quart of rock. Nor- 
well, whose buoyant nature, unused to disappointment, always 
viewed things in the rosiest aspect, predicted that the donkeys 
would be needed before the end of the week to pack ore down 
the mountain to the smelter. 

They blasted off a portion of the huge rock and dug around 
the projecting part. Somehow it did not seem to widen out 
in the ground as was necessary to constitute a part of the 
“ country rock,” as the prevailing formation was called. Still 
the Expert kept on sorting the ore, which he arranged 
with artistic taste in a neat little pyramid. Wilson’s thoughts 
that night when they quit work were possessed with a dire 
foreboding. He was afraid the rock would not hold out. 
This may seem a groundless fear in a country where the 
mountains were all made of solid, everlasting stone. Next 
day they renewed their work with undiminished vigor. They 
were determined to find something in that big rock or expose 
its miserable pretensions. A final shot did the work. A stick 
of powder sent the huge boulder flying down the mountain in 
a score of pieces, and left what? — a big hole in the hillside. 
They sat a few moments in silence, then a hearty laugh fol- 
lowed at the sudden destruction of their mine by an over- 
charge of powder. Norwell exclaimed: 

u Well, boys, this is a funny country. Even nature puts 
up a job on the tenderfoot.” Wilson, with a face as grave as 
a deacon’s, inquired of Doffmeyer whether they had better 
move the ore dump down to the present location of the mine, 
or attempt to bring back the mine to the ore dump. 


AN IRON CROWN. * 1 85 

44 What are the indications now, Doffmeyer ?” said Nor- 
well. 

44 Gentlemen, I tell you no man can see plumb through a 
rock. But that’s mighty rich stuff, and if it had held out 
we’d been heeled.” There was no disputing logic like this, 
but had he taken the pains to walk up the gulch a mile he 
could have seen the very cliffs whence some ancient glacier 
had torn this huge fragment in past ages. But he preferred 
to work bv theory, like the two geniuses who spent half a 
day discussing whether hot water would ignite gunpowder. 
In mining regions hopes are laid to rest with great facility 
and dispatch. It only remained now to try the Bismarck 
lode. 

The Bismarck had one very strong point in its favor. 
There was no danger of blowing the rock all away at once. 
It was situated on the side of an exposed granite cliff, whose 
walls were like iron. A lonesome crooked stake announced 
that the Stengels had located the claim May 28. A blaze on 
a spruce tree had been added as a precautionary measure to 
enable them to find their precious possession again. The 
melting snow had in a little more than a month left this blaze 
ten feet up the tree. Why any human being should claim 
any part of that lonely mountain side, or even take it as a gift, 
was not very apparent. Silver was the magic talisman which 
had given that little crooked stick, in this lonely spot on this 
bare granite mountain side, an importance that might rival 
the title deeds to a block on Fifth Avenue. The party 
scrambled slowly up the precipitous slope to the Bismarck. 

Two days’ hard labor by men, one of whom had done 
no work for years, the other never, began to tell on them. 
Norwell and Wilson could scarcely move a muscle that did 
not respond by a thrill of pain more or less acute. Their 
arms were as sore as if they had been beaten, and their legs 
almost refused to propel their bodies, which literally had to 
be pushed up the hill. The great altitude rendered breathing 
difficult, and at times caused a feeling of exhaustion so com- 
plete and overpowering that the weary toiler dropped on the 
cold rock to snatch a brief rest. 

The Expert held an inquest first. He picked off little bits 
of rock and carefully examined them under a microscope. He 
set his compass and traced the course of the seams in the rock. 
He took a liberal chew of tobacco and scratched the rock with 
a pocket knife. Finally he decided that the indications were 


AN IRON CROWN. 


1 86 

not so bad after all, but they should have to cut for the vein. 
Now cutting for a vein slightly resembles cutting the hay- 
stack for a needle. By means of a good hay knife, backed by 
muscle, you may readily cut the haystack in two, but there is 
a possibility that you may miss the needle. So you may tunnel 
into a mountain a mile in a mineral country and not strike a 
single vein. A brick yard would have shown as much indi- 
cation of a silver vein as did the Bismarck lode. But others 
were boring the mountain full of holes on every side of them, 
and this was about as good a place to dig as any. Wilson 
humorously suggested one valuable feature of the location. It 
had a splendid dump, for the dirt and rocks went rattling 
down the steep mountain hundreds of feet toward the little 
creek, till in the far distance they seemed like little brown 
animals leaping along the ground. 

They picked, shoveled, drilled and blasted in that flinty 
granite, which seemed as tough as steel. Giant powder was 
the only agent which accomplished much. That shivered 
and tore the rocks into thin slabs like cord wood. These 
pieces were often wedged in, and for some inexplicable reason 
the big end of the wedge always seemed anchored down in 
the rock. It was a task of unremitting, arduous labor, which 
seemed to accomplish little or nothing. Norwell, who had 
never done a day’s manual labor in his life, suffered severely. 
Only his indomitable pluck sustained him. Wilson, who had 
often swung an axe or handled the shovel on the farm, soon 
dropped into the old swing of the arm, and performed more 
labor than his partner with much less effort. Tom never 
could acquire this steadiness and unerring aim which enabled 
Wilson to hit a drill head every time with telling effect, and 
his muscles ached as if they would crack. 

The raw air and the alkaline water caused his hands to 
chap till they opened on the knuckles in ugly seams which 
oozed blood constantly under the jarring of the hammer on 
the drill. The most effectual remedy for this painful trouble 
consisted in dipping a dry spruce splinter into pork fat, hold- 
ing it in a candle flame till it took fire, then dexterously drop- 
ping the boiling grease into the gaping wound. He secretly 
cursed the country for the first two or three weeks, anti re- 
solved that if he ever saw civilization alive, he would drive a 
scavenger’s cart before he would again engage in mining. 

Ten days found them into the rock less than ten feet, and 
still the same ugly gray granite with whitish spots, which 


AN IRON CROWN. 


187 


looked like the spots in “ head cheese.” The time of the 
Expert was too valuable for him to swing the sledge for any 
protracted period, so he spent a great deal of it looking at the 
rocks. By much scraping and searching he finally obtained 
a little fragment which had a spot in it about the size of a pin 
head, where the beautiful wine-colored flash of the ruby was 
visible. The discovery of ruby silver in this camp always 
created a sensation. The mercury in the thermometer of 
hope soared sky ward at once. Everybody went to work with 
a will. It was decided to enlarge the shaft. When the top 
soil was removed on one side for this purpose a sight was 
presented that made their hearts fairly leap. There exposed 
to full view was a vein of blackish quartz nearly two feet 
thick. The Expert had been squatting over the place for ten 
days in utter ignorance of the location of this attractive streak 
of crystal rock that promised such a rich reward for their 
labors. 

Only the man who has experienced the wild thrill of de- 
light that pervades every fiber of him who discovers a new 
mine, can realize the feelings of the party. Volumes have 
been written about the raptures of first love, but there is a 
sort of let-me-shout sensation about a great mineral discovery 
that lavs first love completely in the shade. When a wealthy 
but respected relative dies, the favored heir who is the 
recipient of a handsome legacy is glad, but not with this kind 
of joy. The woman who swept till she found the piece of 
silver was glad, but not with this thrilling joy. The heir 
simply gets something long expected, to the woman is re- 
stored what was once her own, leaving her no better off than 
before. 

The seeker for precious metals on the contrary, dares not 
let his hope ripen into expectancy. His quest is continually 
shrouded by an air of romance, which attaches to the wild 
regions he visits, and their unknown recesses of mountain 
vale and canyon. He often endures the dangers of a soldier, 
combined with the feverish excitement of the gambler. He 
counts for little or nothing adventures with wild beasts, 
wilder men, or the perils of nature. Deeds of daring that 
would put to shame the stilted exploits of chivalry, are to him 
only incidents in his adopted calling. Is it strange then, when 
he has finally struck it rich, that the rushing, tingling, tide of 
joy should swell higher in proportion to the uncertain nature 
of his prospects? Then his good fortune at once yields great 


1 88 


AN IRON CROWN. 


benefits. In the wealthy East rich men are so common as to 
excite no remark. But among poor miners who have delved 
for gold by day, and dreamed of it by night for a score or so 
of years, the lucky winner of a great prize is at once 
apotheosized. His standing in society is fixed beyond ques- 
tion. He is a man of consideration. A feeling of respect 
exists for him something akin to that felt in Mohammedan 
countries toward the pious devotee who has made the pil- 
grimage to Mecca. Though Tom Norwell, Arthur Wilson, 
and Little Hackett were new at the business, a man is never too 
new to feel in full force this intoxicating thrill of exaltation. 

With an ardor which scarcely knew fatigue they attacked 
this flinty ledge of quartz as if it had been a bar that sepa- 
rated them from sweet freedom. For the benefit of the 
reader whose education in respect to mining affairs has been 
overlooked, I will say that quartz veins may be compared 
with great planks set into the ground edgewise. They ex- 
tend to unknown depths, but usually their length on or near 
the surface is not great, seldom reaching more than a mile in 
the longest and only a few hundred yards in the smaller. As 
this flinty strip is firmly bound by the rocks adjoining the 
vein, and the whole inserted between wall rock as firmly as 
if it had grown there, which it possibly did, sinking on a 
vein is very slow, laborious, and expensive work. Paying ore 
is seldom near the surface. It requires large capital to work 
a mine, and thus the impoverished miner often loses a rich 
find from sheer inability to get deep enough to see what he has. 

That night the boys .went home very tired, but in capital 
spirits. They were thoroughly satisfied with the situation. One 
source of uneasiness however, remained. Little Hackett did 
not improve in health as had been confidently expected. The 
dry, exhilarating, electric air seemed to excite his nerves, 
while the depressing chill of such an altitude, stimulated 
nature to keep up the fires of the body to meet the increased de- 
mand for warmth. A robust person with an excess of fat im- 
proves at once under such conditions. Poor Little Hackett’s 
puny frame and feeble powers must soon succumb. Hackett 
had gone down to the town to purchase powder and other 
necessary supplies. Both Norwell. and Wilson felt uneasy 
about his condition, but Tom, who had suggested his coming 
to the country, was particularly worried. He had been the 
means of losing the boy’s money — was that flickering life to 
be charged to his account too? 


AN IRON CROWN. 


189 


“ Arthur, what do you think of Hackett? ” Tom felt that 
he could refrain no longer from mentioning what now re- 
curred to his mind again and again. 

“ He doesn’t seem to mend as he ought to. We must not 
overtax him.” 

“ I’m sorry that we sent him down town for those things. 
That’s a hard climb on the hill.” 

“ Tom, I don’t think that will hurt him. He must keep 
moving. It isn’t safe to sit around in this chilly climate.” 

“ Wilson, I’ll do the cooking hereafter, and rest Hackett.” 
“No vou wont.” 
u Why not?” 

“ I thought we were to share and share alike?” 

“ So we were. I’m not talking about profits.” 

“ Mining law, the world over, is share gains, share pains. 
If he isn’t able to do his work, Doffmeyer and I will take our 
turns at it.” Had the Expert been present he might have 
put a different interpretation on mining law, for his intoler- 
able laziness made it difficult for him to perform the part al- 
ready assigned him. 

They ate in the open air. A large spruce tree had fallen 
across a prostrate fellow and broken square in two. At this 
junction a flat pine box did duty as a table. The logs served 
for seats, and each man placed his plate on his knees helping 
himself from the bacon in the spider, or the stewed fruit or 
rice in the sauce-kettle. It was a very sociable arrangement, 
and not at all inconvenient. Two shaggy little spruce trees 
the height of a man, served as a kitchen. Under them were 
placed the dishes and any food remaining; on them hung the 
towels. At supper time Tom inquired: 
u Hackett, how did you find the hill?” 

“ Awful steep. It just takes my breath clear away. I 
had to stop every two rods to rest. Somehow I can’t climb 
as you fellows can.” 

“ Oh, you’ll get used to that. I was the same way at first,” 
said Doffmeyer. 

Ci But I get no better. Sometimes I feel so weak that I 
just have to stop and sit right down. Then sometimes I feel 
splendid.” 

u Maybe you had better not go down the hill any more,” 
said Tom. 

“ Oh, I couldn’t do without letters. Got one from Mary 
to-day, and she wishes to be remembered.” 


190 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Thanks. If you would rather work round the camp I’ll 
go after your letters.” Tom made this remark as a delicate 
feeler. He knew that Hackett would loathe the idea of be- 
coming a mere feeder on the bounty of his friends. 

“ Oh, I can stand going errands. I like it.” 

“ I’ll tell you what you need, Hackett,” said Doffmeyer. 
“ Eat more. You don’t eat half enough. Take a big chunk 
of bacon and plenty of beans. Nothing like bacon and cof- 
fee in the mountains.” So saying, he reached to the coffee- 
pot, poured out a third cup, put into it several heaping spoons 
of sugar, walked to the tent, took out a can of plum butter, 
helped himself to a plateful, sat down, took another big bis- 
cuit, and a fresh start. Norwell had for some time been 
utterly disgusted with the Expert’s laziness and selfishness, 
but the deliberate piggishness of his appropriating a luxury 
which the others had not shared aroused in the minds of the 
other three a feeling of ill-disguised contempt. But Norwell 
was too sensitive a gentleman to make any remarks about 
what another ate. Wilson was a person of a very different 
stamp. His rugged sense of manliness and propriety would 
not allow him to overlook so contemptible an act. 

“John, it strikes me you are getting harder to please than 
when we first met you.” 

“ Why?” asked the Expert, his mouth full of biscuit and 
plum butter. 

“You can’t get along with one kind of sauce, when the 
rest of us can make a meal without any.” 

Not another word was said, but a spark was blown which 
might kindle a dangerous flame in so small a community. 
Norwell and Wilson decided that possibly different food 
might be better for Hackett. None of the party had tasted 
butter or potatoes for six weeks. There was little doubt that 
the Bismarck would prove a big thing, and repay them well 
for all expenditures. They decided to buy some butter and 
potatoes at once. Potatoes were only twenty cents a pound, 
and a shriveled article at that. Ranch butter was one dollar 
per pound, creamery butter seventy-five cents. Ranch eggs 
were seventy-five cents per dozen, hay one hundred dollars 
per ton, and other things in proportion. 

With light hearts they worked early and late on the Bis- 
marck. The Stengels came every day to see the prospect. 
They made no attempt to conceal their boyish delight at 
their good fortune. The whole party agreed that it was best 


AN IRON CROWN. 


191 


to keep quiet about the claim until they knew just what they 
had, and till the claim was surveyed and recorded according 
to law. In new mining camps it is often positively dangerous 
for one man to hold a rich claim; it may he hazardous even 
for a party. Ruby silver had been discovered in the pay 
streak in rich masses, and in this camp the very name ruby 
was enough to set men wild with excitement and envy. 
The Dutchmen often resorted to town, to indulge in the 
cheering fluids which miners frequently employ to keep their 
spirits at high tide. Under the stimulus of Rocky Mountain 
whisky no wonder that they left their senses behind. They 
boasted around town of their big strike, exaggerating greatly 
the importance of what was as yet only an excellent prospect. 

Every report of a big strike creates a great sensation in a 
mining camp. Men flocked to see it by the hundreds, just as 
in civilized communities they flock to see a circus. The hill 
was soon overrun with people looking for the Bismarck lode. 
There were men on foot and on horseback, men with repeat- 
ing rifles and unarmed men, honest men and villains who 
would cut a throat for ten dollars. All this greatly annoyed 
Norwell and Wilson, for they saw in it a source of danger. 


CHAPTER XX. 

JUMPERS. 

The miners who first locate a new camp have always 
enjoyed the right of making certain local regulations con- 
cerning the size of claims and other mining rights. These 
regulations are recognized by the statutes of the United 
States as having the force of duly enacted laws. Miners are 
a law to themselves. Even so have the individuals who com- 
prise these rude communities taken the disposition of the 
Sabbath out of the hands of the Deity, where it is usually 
allow r ed properly to belong, and regulated it by a species of 
miners’ common law, w r hich is more in accordance with the 
miner’s view of the fitness of things. Were this unwritten 
law formulated, it might read something as follows: Six days 
shalt thou labor on thy claim diligently with pick, shovel and 
drill, taking turns with thy partner at the windlass. But the 


1 92 


AN IRON CROWN. 


seventh day is peculiarly thine own. On that day thou shalt 
wash thy shirts, mend thy overalls and anchor new buttons 
thereon. Thou shalt also replenish thy stock of powder, get 
thy drills shaipened, compare thy rock with that of thy 
neighbor’s claim, examine thy stakes to see that no enemy 
hath removed them, and in all things prepare thyself so that 
the labors of the week may not be interrupted. 

Norwell and Wilson found little difficulty in adopting this 
code. In new communities there is a sort of moral stay of 
proceedings, which enables the consciences of most men to 
take a breathing spell. Little Hackett and the Expert had 
gone out to look at the lake, whose crystal waters reflected 
an image as delicately true as that of the finest plate-glass 
mirror. There were no fish in its waters, but they were plen- 
tifully stocked on the shallow margins with a species of 
homely lizard, vulgarly known in some parts of the country 
as the “ mud puppy.” 

The clear hot rays of a July sun poured down through 
the somber foliage of the tall spruce trees. The snow was 
gone nearly everywhere except from the big peak across the 
lake, where it was eternal, so far as man was concerned. 
With the snow, the noisy little brooks which were so numer- 
ous in June, had one by one dwindled into tiny streamlets. 
Even the main creek had shrunk into a modest little stream 
that gurgled unobtrusively among the great boulders. The 
noise of rushing water which is the chief one that disturbs 
these solitudes had ceased, and the silence was oppressive. 
No joyous birds gladdened the ear with song, or charmed the 
eye with gay plumage. A “ camp robber” perched lazily 
on a limb. He was a solemn-looking creature about the size 
of a dove, and somewhat resembling that type of innocence; 
but he was a veritable wolf in sheep’s clothing, a pirate mas- 
querading as an envoy of peace, while he meditated an attack 
on your biscuits or your bacon. The predatory ground- 
squirrel stole from rock to rock or cut his absurd little capers 
on a log. Thousands of canary-colored butterflies flitted 
from place to place, or perched in the bright sunshine on the 
tops of young spruce trees. Innumerable flowers grew in 
the woods or “ parks ” as the open little prairies are called. 
There were thousands of bright yellow lilies, and a delicate 
flower with a scarlet color that made the hillsides glow. The 
sweet-scented columbine straggled here and there. But most 
numerous of all was a beautiful, delicate bluebell, as fresh as 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*93 


the dew of the morning, which grew in an ever-renewing 
panicle of floral splendor. On the tops of the young spruce 
trees, pea-green tufts showed the new growth of the season, 
while bluish-purple cones stood bolt upright, exuding a rosin 
as clear as honey. Over all on this peaceful Sunday was the 
dark, mysterious, cloudless sky, and all around was silence. 

During the intervals of laundry work Norwell and Wil- 
son talked of home, and, as is natural with all young men, 
they loved to speak of the girls they left behind them. Wilson 
was rallying Tom on this subject. 

“ Norwell, I thought you were a trifle smitten with May 
Bryce.” 

“ Wilson, I wouldn’t be so mean as to attempt to cut out 
my friend.” 

Tom had the best reasons for believing that Wilson was 
more interested in another quarter, but for the sake of argu- 
ment he chose to keep up this little fiction. 

“Tom, I have no interest in the young lady beyond that 
of friendship.” 

“ Now see here, Arthur, you don’t expect me to believe 
that you could live in the same house with May Bryce for 
six months and resist the fascination of those blue eyes and 
bewitching smiles, do you?” 

“ I do,” replied Wilson, and somehow his positive decla- 
ration appeared to give Norwell satisfaction. “I know you 
couldn’t do it. But how about your New York girl?” 

“Which one?” said Tom carelessly. 

“ I saw but one — Miss Chetta Ingledee.” 

“ Oh, Chetta and I have always been good friends. We 
were almost brought up together. As for love, I never gave 
it a serious thought, and I guess she hasn’t. Besides, here I 
am as poor as a church mouse, while she is the richest heiress 
in New York.” 

“ All her millions will not buy true love.” 

“They’ll buy her a husband, though, whenever she wants 
one.” 

“ Yes, probably some broken-down foreign prince or titled 
snob, without money, but lots of blue blood, will pick her up, 
and think he has conferred a great honor upon the object of 
his choice, and she will be happy to receive it.” 

“No, she has too much sense for that. Why, here come 
the boys.” DofFmeyer and Little Hackett had come back 
from their ramble. The former threw down a piece of rock, 


13 


*94 


AN IRON CROWN. 


and exclaimed, with more vigor of expletive than may be re- 
peated here: 

“ Boys, staked a claim over there! Big thing I tell you. 
Four feet of that truck,” and lie gave the rock a kick. 

“ Where is it?” Norwell and Wilson both exclaimed 
breathlessly. 

“ It’s clear over the gulch on the other hillside. Oh, it’s 
the biggest thing I’ve seen in camp. It’s bound to make us 
all rich.” 

After dinner they all started to see the new find and look 
at their fortune. The miner’s system of financiering is the 
simplest in the world. He makes a million dollars by simply 
driving a stake in the ground. They all decided the new dis- 
covery to be a bonanza; there was a wide vein which was 
as prominent as a militia general on parade. They were in 
buoyant spirits. The tide of good luck had set toward them 
very strong of late. They decided to go home past the Bis- 
marck. There is a fascination about a mining claim as power- 
ful as that which draws men around a charming woman. 
They cannot keep away, but return again and again to con- 
template the source of their happiness or misery, as the case 
may be. 

They peered into the Bismarck shaft, hammered rocks 
awhile on the dump, and climbed a little further up the steep 
mountain. There they saw a sight which made their hearts 
stand still with a great fear, and caused the Expert to become 
quite faint with swearing since his breath came rather hard in 
the mountains. The cause of the trouble was not a party of 
warlike Utes ready to take scalps; it was not a famished 
mountain lion ready to spring on his prey; it was not a deadly 
serpent barring their path, for snakes never lived on these al- 
titudes; it was simply a little stake standing in a secluded spot 
by a log, and containing an inscription to the effect that cer- 
tain parties claimed the identical ground covered by the Bis- 
marck under date of May 20th, eight days before the Bismarck 
stake was set. 

At first sight they were dumfounded. Their labor was 
lost. The silvery stream that was about to pour into their 
pockets was in danger of being turned into the strong box of 
somebody else. Others, it seemed, had a prior claim to the 
Bismarck. But second thoughts materially altered the state of 
the case. Wilson remembered distinctly that he and Bob 
Stengel had passed that very spot two or three days before, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*95 


and had seen no stake. Moreover, they had rested on that 
identical log. If any stake had been there they could not 
have missed seeing it, for they were constantly on the lookout 
for such things. Closer examination revealed the fact that 
the stake had been recently set. The rocks, too, which had 
been displaced under a pretence of beginning work, showed 
plainly that tiie labor had been performed but a few hours 
before. It was a daring attempt to jump their claim and 
swindle them out of their property. The new stake bore the 
name, “ The Tooke Lode.” This was a further suspicious 
fact. 

There was, and is, at the time of this writing, a prominent 
citizen of Colorado who shall be known on these pages as 
J. W. Tooke. With the fondness for sobriquets which is a 
peculiarity of new communities, Tooke was styled the “ Bul- 
lion King” by his fellow-citizens. This man, who finally ac- 
quired enormous wealth, began his career as a retail grocer. 
There is nothing especially elevating in the contemplation of 
brown sugar, bacon and laundry soap. Nor is the retail 
grocer’s business specially lucrative. Tooke, however, found 
it the stepping stone to affluence. 

Tooke made his wealth in mining. There are always 
scores of miners who are “ dead broke,” hanging around min- 
ing camps, hoping for something to turn up. Tooke made a 
regular business of u grub-staking ” these men. The flour and 
bacon furnished from his grocery cost but little. If one man 
in twenty made a find Tooke would soon make a fortune. As 
soon as the wonderful discoveries at Argenta were noised 
abroad, Tooke sent some men to the place who staked much 
of the best ground. Two of these men discovered the famous 
a Little Buckeye ” lode which for a time paid dividends on 
ten millions of stock. This was the basis of Tooke’s wealth. 

His methods of financiering in this instance are worthy of 
description as illustrating how readily sharpers may prey on 
a credulous public. Tooke bought out his penniless partners 
for a small fraction of the real value of the mine, though the 
sum was to them a fortune, and incorporated the “ Little 
Buckeye Mining Company,” with a capital stock of ten mil- 
lions. Costly machinery was bought on credit and operations 
began at once. The output was unparalleled in the mining 
history of this country. Large as was the capital stock, it 
soon went above par and paid fancy dividends. As Tooke 
owned nearly all the stock, the monthiy dividends went into 


196 


AN IKON CROWN. 


his own pockets. A mining fever, more contagious than 
small-pox, at once set in all over the country. For months 
men from all parts of the United States poured into Denver 
at the rate of five hundred to one thousand per day on their 
way to the new camps. People believed Argenta to be a sec- 
ond Potosi, for there is no limit to public gullibility when the 
public has once made up its mind to believe. 

Valuable as was the stock of the “ Little Buckeye,” it was 
a noticeable fact that it could be purchased in the markets. A 
good rule, with respect to mining stock, is buy only that 
which is not for sale. Tooke was evidently a benefactor who 
was willing to let the people have some of the precious article 
for a consideration. Suddenly the “ Little Buckeye ” ceased 
to pay dividends. A great commotion ensued among the 
stockholders. The mine shut down. It was examined and 
found to be exhausted. It had been nothing but a great 
“pocket” of exceedingly rich ore which had all been taken 
out. But while the pocket of the “ Little Buckeye ” and its 
unfortunate stockholders was as flat as a pressed mackerel, 
Tooke’s pocket was inflated to the point of bursting. It was 
found that he had very little of the “ Buckeye ” stock, but a 
few millions of ready cash instead. What was worse, the un- 
fortunate company owed an immense sum for machinery and 
improvements. 

Tooke now had unlimited faith in mining as an industry. 
Properly managed, he knew it would pay. He sent out 
scores of “ grub-stakers ” to harry the rock-ribbed hills into 
giving up their precious treasures. His name appeared in 
connection with nearly every “company,” or scheme of the 
many, that originated in that period of excitement for the pur- 
pose of making money rapidly, easily, and without the dis- 
agreeable processes of hard labor, and waiting. The major- 
ity made money on paper. Incredible as it may appear, men 
argued because Tooke was in an enterprise, it must be a good 
thing for others to go into. They even adduced his wonder- 
ful luck, as they termed it, in Little Buckeye, as an argument 
to sustain their position. 

There was no portion of the State, even the most remote 
little camp, where Tooke did not have interests. It was a 
matter of current talk that his agents were not over-scrupulous 
about the manner in which they obtained claims. If they 
could not get them peaceably they jumped them whenever 
there could be a shadow of a counter claim set up. But this, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


*97 


of course, must be managed adroitly, for of all men in the world, 
the Western miners will endure the least imposition. By set- 
ting up a counter claim, however, it was often possible to 
secure an interest by compromise, where the owners were too 
plucky to give up the whole. In this way originates a large 
proportion of the voluminous and interminable litigation 
which is usually associated with the history of valuable mines. 

Sometimes unscrupulous men took advantage of Tooke’s 
reputation to further their own ends and used his name without 
any warrant whatever for doing so. His name on this stake 
at any rate indicated danger. An attempt would probably 
be made early Monday morning to jump the claim. A bold 
course of action was at once decided upon. The New York- 
ers could not trust the Germans, for they had learned that the 
“ Dutch boys ” would lie as readily, and with apparently the 
same relish that they would munch a pretzel. The Expert 
was lazy, and as afterward proved, cowardly. Besides, Wil- 
son had virtually quarreled with him. Without trusty allies 
Norwell, Wilson and Hackett were in a very dangerous 
position. 

Norwell took Doffmeyer aside and candidly laid the whole 
situation before him, asking his advice. DofFmeyer’s greater 
experience proved for once of some use. He advised building 
a cabin at the shaft, and shooting any persons who attempted 
to seize the claim. It was decided to build at once, without 
disclosing their intentions to the Germans. The latter 
were known to be friendly with the Long brothers, whose 
names appeared on the stake, and treachery was suspected. 

With axes and a cross-cut saw they went to work with a 
desperate determination. The beautiful straight spruce trees 
were felled, cut into lengths, notched, put in place, and soon a 
rough structure was rising directly over the Bismarck shaft. 
They toiled on, regardless of approaching darkness. An at- 
tack might be expected any minute. Possibly it was a race 
for life. Fortunately there was a moon, which afforded ample 
light. By three o’clock in the morning the log cabin had 
risen high enough for the roof. The cracks between the logs 
were broken by spruce poles held tightly in place by pins 
driven into auger holes. With incredible labor they had ac- 
complished a work that under ordinary circumstances would 
have required at least two days. What may not men accom- 
plish when working for dear life, or to prevent the perpetra- 
tion of a great wrong upon them ? 


198 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Little Hackett had been sent by an unfrequented path to 
town to borrow a Winchester rifle from trusty friends. On 
his return he manfully set about transferring provisions from 
the tent to the new cabin, a distance of a quarter of a mile. 
All night long he passed and repassed that rugged path. His 
wasted frame bent under heavy loads of bacon, flour, dried 
fruit, working utensils and other camp necessaries. At such 
lofty elevations a very small quantity makes a load for a man 
who is obliged to scramble up precipices, around rocks and 
over logs and brush. Toward morning Hackett dropped on 
a blanket in the tent to snatch a brief rest. He could go no 
longer. Instantly he fell asleep, where the boys found him 
on their return in the early dawn. 

A hearty breakfast was cooked and eaten. Blankets and 
other absolute necessities were transferred to the cabin, and 
they went to work and put a log roof on the side next the 
mountain, so that the enemy could not command the rude 
fortress from above. Then they careful^ examined the rifle 
and their revolvers, and utterly exhausted by their unusual 
exertions, sat down to rest. 

About ten o’clock in the forenoon seven or eight men ap- 
peared over the hill in a direction different from that which 
led directly to town. Norwell at once began hammering 
stone as if they were at work. Wilson, who in his country 
life had some experience with the rifle, took that trusty 
weapon and prepared for defence. Doffmeyer, who proved 
a coward after all his brave talk of dying on the claim, 
clutched his revolver, but his face grew a dirty white, the 
color of the snow on Ruby peak. He was in for it now, how- 
ever, and there was nothing to be done but defend himself 
and get out with a whole skin if he could. 

The new comers slipped quietly through the woods with 
the' Long brothers leading the party. The latter had set the 
new stake early the morning before, and knew just where to 
find it. When they advanced within a few rods of the place 
they looked, down the hill toward the Bismarck shaft. To 
say they were astonished is a very inadequate statement of 
their feelings. They had calculated on surprising the Bis- 
marck owners down in the shaft, where they would be com- 
pletely at the mercy of the jumpers. The programme was 
to pounce down on them and charge them with being jump- 
ers, disarm them, and give them an hour to get out of the 
camp. If they refused they would be threatened with the 


AN IRON CROWN. 


I 99 


vengeance of the vigilance committee of the camp. Few 
tenderfeet they supposed would under such circumstances 
refuse. But here was a very unexpected apparition in the 
shape of a cabin, and men in it. They stared, unwilling to 
credit their senses. Yesterday there was no cabin there, but 
the one before them was certainly an uncomfortable reality. 
The jumpers after a short parley among themselves decided 
to resort to strategem, and if that failed they would try bluff. 

One of the Long brothers advanced a little, though he 
seemed nervous about getting too near, mounted a log, and 
hailed the Bistnarckers: 

“ Hello there, Bismarck! Say, Bismarck! ” 

44 What’s wanted?” hallooed Tom carelessly in reply. 

“ Want to talk with you.” 

44 Fire away.” 

u Come up here so we can talk better.” This polite invi- 
tation was declined with a derisive laugh. 

44 Come down here if you want to see us.” 

44 Where are the Dutchmen?” As the exact status of the 
Stengels with reference to this plot was unknown, it was 
deemed wisest to evade this question, and take advantage of 
any doubt that might exist with reference to the number of 
defenders of the Bismarck. Tom replied indifferently: 

“Oh, they’re all right.” Meantime not a man inside the 
cabin had shown himself to those outside for an instant. Long 
was enraged when he found none of his shallow devices had 
any effect whatever. 

“D — n it, why don’t you come out o’ yer hole an’ talk 
like a man ? ” 

44 Why don’t you come down to the cabin like the brave 
men you appear to be?” 

44 Oh, we’re cornin’, an’ don’t you forget it. See here, 
Mr. Norwell, we’ve just come up to notify you to git off this 
here claim. The Bismarck is no claim. You’re on the 
Tooke lode, located by Long brothers eight days before your 
stake was stuck.” 

44 That’s a lie, and you know it. You set that stake yes- 
terday.” 

“No we didn’t, we set it last May. Here’s two men 
that’ll swear they saw me set it. It’s older than yours.” 
Just then a swaggering burly ruffian who carried a heavy six- 
shooter on either hip spoke up: 

“ Long, what’s the use o’ monkeyin’? Pull up their d — d 
stake an’ we’ll see you through.” 


200 


AN IRON CROWN. 


As the men who made the rival claim, it behooved the 
Longs to take the first steps. But pulling up a miner’s stake 
under the muzzle of his rifle requires even a higher form of 
courage than that required to face the cannon’s mouth. In 
the latter case numbers inspire a mutual courage, in the for- 
mer the only companionship is grim death uncomfortably 
close to your side. Long, though an abject coward, felt it 
incumbent to make a forward movement of some kind. With 
a great show of bravery he exclaimed: 

“ Come on, boys. I’ll do it if you’ll all stand by me.” 
He advanced a few steps when Wilson’s voice rang out 
clear: 

“ The man who pulls the Bismarck stake will never pull 
another in this world.” Long stepped back, and the party 
held another brief consultation. Then Long again addressed 
the little party in the cabin: 

“ See here, boys, we don’t want to be hard on you, an’ 
we don’t want any fuss. Mebbe you didn’t see our stake 
when you set yours. Then of course you don’t want anything 
that doesn’t belong to you. But there’s no use talkin’, our 
stake holds the ground. We’ve three men to your one, and 
can git fifty more if we want ’em. If you’ll git off the claim 
peaceably we’ll call it square.” 

u We’ll not get off the claim peaceably nor any other 
way. Your stake is a lie. We can prove that it wasn’t 
there last week. If you want this claim you must take it.” 
There was another short consultation, and the attacking 
party scattered behind large trees. Tom whispered: “Look 
out; they’re going to shoot.” The party inside crouched on 
the ground awaiting the result, while Wilson, having stationed 
himself by a port-hole, commanded the party above. At a 
signal each of the jumpers fired two or three shots from his 
revolver. The balls struck the green spruce logs with a dull 
sound, or glanced from their sides, tearing off great splinters 
of bark and soft wood. The expert, after all danger was 
over, still crouched flat on the earth, his face white with 
terror. Nobod v was hurt. 

“ The thieves, they’ll not accomplish anything that way,” 
muttered Wilson, who had refrained from firing. He had a 
horror of taking human life, and besides, the besiegers were 
thoroughly protected by trees. There were a few moments 
of profound silence. The attacking party evidently attributed 
the quietness of their opponents to fear. There was another 


AN IRON CROWN. 


201 


movement from the trees preparatory to another volley. 
DofFmeyer frantically strove to crawl into the very ground to 
the great amusement of the others. Norwell suggested that 
he jump into the shaft, which was certainly a safe place. Only 
shame prevented his doing so, for his pretended bravery was 
pitiably ludicrous when it came to the test. The most vindic- 
tive spirit could not wish a more terrible punishment visited 
on his foe than the agony endured by a coward thus brought 
to bay. There was another succession of sharp rattling ex- 
plosions, and again the bullets flew thick around the cabin. 

44 I’ll teach the fools a little common sense,” said Wilson, 
and the clear, sharp report of the Winchester rifle echoed 
across the gulch. Simultaneously was heard a succession of 
horrible oaths. One of the jumpers had carelessly got behind 
a tree much too small to cover his person. One arm pro- 
jected and Wilson’s ball had broken the luckless member. 

The attacking party now withdrew further up the hillside. 
But it was evident they had not yet abandoned their enter- 
prise, for their voices could be heard in earnest discussion. 
The little party in the cabin were puzzled at the meaning of 
this new movement. They waited in anxious suspense. The 
bright sun now nearly overhead poured down his hot rays on 
them as if in mockery. Perhaps it was the last time they 
should ever behold his meridian splendors. The movement 
above was evidently taking shape. The jumpers were at 
work behind a clump of small spruce bushes, which effectu- 
ally protected them from Wilson’s rifle. The Expert was 
dodging up and down on the slightest alarm. What could 
the jumpers be doing behind those bushes? At length DofF- 
meyer exclaimed: 

44 My God, boys, they’re going to roll rocks on us.” 

44 But there are scarcely any rocks up there in the woods,” 
replied Wilson. 

44 There’s one big one. I saw it the other day. It’s as big 
as a hay -cock and nearly round.” 

44 That’ll fix us I guess, and no mistake,” said Tom. 

44 It may miss us after all. I’ll just put a bullet through 
that clump of trees and wake the rascals up.” As the rifle 
ball whistled through the brushwood there was another brief 
interval of perfect silence. 

44 Hadn’t we better get into the shaft,” suggested DofF- 
meyer. 

44 No,” said Tom, 44 that is useless. If it went in there it 


202 


AN IRON CROWN. 


* 

would only kill all of us. If we stay outside some may 
escape. That big tree is our only hope.” 

This new danger was an awful one. No human ingenuity 
could avert it. If the big rock struck the cabin as it was 
likely to do, for a slight hollow ran directly down to it, no 
power on earth could save them. It would send the green 
logs flying like a card house, and be sure to kill or maim some 
one, if not all of the inmates of the structure. One chance 
remained. Just above the cabin stood an enormous dead 
spruce tree, which even in decay towered above its fellows. It 
was thickly covered with dry branches and long strips of 
bark dangled from its trunk. During the few minutes of 
leisure, before the coming of the jumpers, the fear was ex- 
pressed that the tree might fall on the cabin. Now it was 
suddenly transferred from a threatened danger into a source 
of hope, their only hope. 

“ Hackett,” said Tom, “ slip out and go to the tent. 
There’s enough of us left. These murderers will not shoot at 
you if they see you. Go quick.” 

u No, Mr. Tom, I can be of use here maybe. Any way, 
I shan’t sneak off.” 

Suddenly a voice above sang out : “All ready. Let her fly.” 
The jumpers had by great effort pried the enormous boulder 
from its deep bed, and were ready to launch it on its mission 
of destruction. The men in the cabin held their breath in 
dread suspense. A fiendish shout of exultation arose as the 
mighty rock plowed its way through all obstacles. Dry 
brush and loose stones rattled in its wake down the steep 
mountain side. It whipped a spruce tree six inches in 
diameter to the ground like a weed. It went directly for the 
cabin like a sentient thing that realized its purpose. With a 
furious bound high in the air, like a maddened wild beast, it 
leaped against the old spruce tree. But the latter was power- 
ful even in death. The shock was terrific. A perfect shower 
of decayed branches and bark rained down from the old tree, 
which swayed like a reed in a storm. 

The great rock had struck a glancing blow. It spun side- 
ways past the end of the cabin, snapping one of the project- 
ing logs as if it had been a glass tube, but doing no harm, 
then with a mighty bound it cleared the Bismarck dump, and 
went tearing through the woods below like a verv demon, 
A cheer that made the woods ring was given by the party in 
the cabin, while curses and imprecations on the old tree were 
heard from the jumpers. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


203 


The rage of the attacking party knew no bounds when 
they saw the failure of their pet scheme. They swore the 
most blood-curdling oaths, mingled with grotesque and in- 
geniously constructed maledictions. Suddenly one of them 
sprang forward to an open position, and fired three or four 
shots in rapid succession at the cabin, about the spot he sup- 
posed most likely to take effect through the cracks. The 
besieged dropped close to the ground. Excepting Doffmeyer, 
they felt little fear. One ball however, penetrated a crevice 
between a log and the pole that stopped the crack, tore off 
a piece of soft wood, glanced and struck Hackett fairly in 
the left side of the breast. There was a suppressed “ Oh,” 
and the boy, catching for breath, turned as white as a sheet. 
Tom sprang to his side and tore open his clothing. The ball 
dropped out, but a great blue spot arose almost instantly. No 
blood was drawn, and Hackett smiling in his pain, gasped: 

“ I’m all right, Mr. Tom.” Wilson, burning with indig- 
nation, strove to get a shot at the cowardly miscreant who 
fired* the bullet, but in vain. Some new comers now inter- 
rupted the proceedings. The Stengels, who were smoking 
in their cabin, having heard the cheers, came over to see 
“ Vat was up mit te claim.” They could scarcely credit their 
senses when they saw the cabin. 

“ Mine gott, who budded dot cabin? ” asked Herman. 

“We did,” said Norwell. “ Come in here and help defend 
your claim.” 

“Defend dot claim! Who tries to jump dot claim kits a 
bullet. Dot’s all.” 

“ Then come inside and be as good as your word.” 

“Poof! You bet I don’t go in dot shanty. Who says 
dot claim isn’t mine?” 

“You’re on our ground,” said Long. 

“Your ground! Not py a tarn sight,” said Bob Stengel. 

“ Here’s our stake to prove it.” 

“ Dot little shtake? Somebody put dot shtake dere inside 
tree tays. We cot te proof too.” The Dutchman, though 
correct in his opinion, knew he was lying about the proofs. 
The jumpers however, thought they had been seen setting the 
stake, which was a penitentiary offence. They, instead of 
finding the tenderfeet, an easy prey, had got themselves in a 
dangerous predicament should the whole case become known 
to the honest miners of the place. They were willing to get 
out of the scrape if they could find a shadow of an excuse. 


204 


AN IRON CROWN. 


That the Germans were not acting honestly in the matter, 
Tom and his associates suspected from the first. Their in- 

x 

difference now was unaccountable. They talked all right, 
but were unwilling to aid their partners. Besides, they were 
known to be friends of the Longs. Finally, Herman Stengel 
said : 

“ Poys, dot’s great pusiness quarrelin’ apout claims. Der’s 
plenty for eferypody. Long, I yoost gifs you half intrust in 
a claim up Elk Basin if you’ll work by de assessment.” 

I don’t want any claim in the basin. This is a good 
enough hill for me.” The entire party on both sides were 
now holding a parley under a tree. 

“ Gott in himmel, I’ll gif you half an interest in der 
Yankee Doodle right ofer on dis hill. It’s a daisy too. Pull 
up dot little shtake an’ go ofer der.” So it was agreed that the 
Long party should take the Yankee Doodle, and give up all 
claims to the Bismarck. They had accomplished something 
at least, and pretended to be pleased. Norwell and Wilson, 
however, suspected collusion between the Longs and the 
Stengels. 


CHAPTER XXL 

A NIGHT HORROR IN THE SHAFT. 

Things now went on quietly for several days, and the 
owners of the Bismarck hoped there would be no more 
trouble. Miners came past the shaft every day, examined the 
ore, pronounced it ‘‘mighty rich truck,” peered into the shaft 
and passed on. These visits, though chiefly from honest, men 
who were working claims of their own in the vicinity, were 
a constant source of disquiet to Norwell and Wilson. In 
mining business where a valuable claim is in dispute, one 
never knows who is his enemy or who may be scheming to 
beat him out of his property. One day a big, honest-looking 
fellow, who had lost two fingers from one hand, came along 
and talked for some time with Norwell, who was taking his 
turn at the windlass above ground. Finally the big man, 
who was a good natured fellow, remarked : 

“ Mr. Norwell, I’ve heard all about your trouble here, 


AN IRON CROWN. 205 

and I can give you a pointer or two. I believe you men are 
good fellows and ought to know.” 

“Any information will be gladly received.” 

“ Of course them jumpers was d — d rascals, and you ought 
to have shot every mother’s son of ’em. But let me tell you, 
just keep an eye on your Dutch partners. I set a stake on 
this very spot a few days before they set theirs. When I 
come back to see about it they had thrown it away and stuck 
up theirs. Of course I’ve forfeited my rights by allowin’ the 
time for workin’ to run out.” Tom was silent. The miner 
went on: “My name is Briggs. You can find me any time 
in the basin. Another thing. It’s talked around the camp 
that the Bismarck is not surveyed on her lead. It doesn’t 
look like it to me. See, she runs about north and south, 
while your stake reads thirty -five west of north.” 

“ I think we’re on a bend in the vein,” said Tom. 

“ May be,” replied Briggs, “ but these veins run tolerable 
straight. If I were you I’d resurvey,” saying which he 
shouldered his pick and shovel and went his way. 

Here was a new source of trouble, which the boys dis- 
cussed anxiously. By consulting those posted in mining law 
they discovered that a resurvey could be legally made, but 
that the rights of the claim must date from the time of such 
survey. By this means they would lose a large portion of 
their surface rights, which under the peculiar workings of 
mining law, would be taken by claims of a later date, which 
already lapped theirs. If they did not resurvey, their lead, 
instead of extending on their own ground the fifteen hundred 
feet allowed by law, would probably leave it, and they should 
lose several hundred feet of valuable mineral. Then, after 
all, the Germans had deceived them concerning the title to the 
Bismarck. 

Sunday was the day for collecting “ pointers” and compar- 
ing notes with other miners. Next Sunday the entire party 
went down town. Passing the only hotel in the place some 
one hailed them from the door. To their great surprise it 
was Gar m and. 

“Hello, Garmand. This is indeed a pleasure.” 

“ It is, I assure you, a mutual pleasure, Mr. Norwell — and 
Mr. Wilson too, I believe? ” 

“Yes,” replied the latter; “I’m pleased to meet old 
friends.” Wilson took Garmand’s hand with a twinge of 
compunction. He had unmercifully guyed this man when 


20 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


they met before in New York, and now that he was a possi- 
ble acquaintance it was a matter of regret. After all, Gar- 
mand had sterling qualities, in spite of the fact that his 
delightful freshness was irrepressible. 

a When did you come in?” 

“Just got in.” 

“ How do you like the country?” 

“ Cawn’t hardly say yet. It seems to have a delightful 
primitiveness about it.” 

“Fairly primitive,” added Tom. 

“ And the scenery seems aw— quite — I might say exten- 
sive.” As Ruby Buttes was situated in the midst of the 
bewildering grandeur of the Elk Mountains, the scenery 
might with propriety be called extensive. After a pleasant 
conversation they wandered aimlessly around town, and listened 
to that amusement ever dear to miners — lying about their 
claims. Among the well-known characters of the camp was 
an irrepressible old Munchausen who went by the name of 
San Juan Shorty. He had acquired this sobriquet from his 
diminutive stature, and the constant repetition of whopping lies 
about his rich claims in the San Juan country. This latter he 
pronounced as if it had been an English word instead of a 
Spanish one, so guileful in appearance and so full of snags to 
wreck articulation. Whether San Juan Shorty’s other name 
(it is presumed he had one) was ever known in camp or not, 
is a matter of no consequence. He answered to San Juan 
Shorty, and that is quite enough for present purposes. 

San Juan Shorty was in stature about five feet two, well- 
built, but lithe and tough as a roasted hickory withe. His 
complexion was a rich old bronze, which approached a dull 
copper. It was a complexion made for service. The sun 
and wind daily ripened its rare tints. I will for a moment 
usher the reader into the privacy of Shorty’s dressing room, 
back of a dry goods box in his tent, and disclose the secret of 
this wonderful complexion. He seldom vexed it with soap 
and water. Shorty had a stubby pug nose, little eyes like 
shoe buttons, and a shaggy, unkempt beard full of tobacco 
juice and grease. His head was as round as a billiard ball, 
and his very red ears projected from the sides of the sphere at 
right angles. He was dressed in the universal brown duck 
coat and overalls, which were so thoroughly japanned with 
grease and dirt that they were completely waterproofed. The 
side pockets of his coat were constantly bulged with speci- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


207 


mens of rock from his San Juan mines and elsewhere. One 
of his hands had been shattered by a premature explosion of 
giant powder, leaving the member badly bent and warped, 
but still serviceable. He . walked with a halting, awkward 
gait, such as might be acquired by a man who all his life had 
traveled round a hill in one direction till his framework got 
adjusted to the slope, rendering it difficult for him to walk on 
any other kind of ground. In their rambles around town 
they met Shorty, and Tom introduced him to Garmand. 

“ Mr. Garmand allow me, Mr. San Juan Shorty. From 
London,” added Tom. 

“ Very pleased to know you, Mr. Shorty.” 

“ How d’ye do,- Mr. Garmand?” said Shorty, as the little 
black eyes peered from under his old slouch hat. Capitalist, 
I reckon?” 

“ No, hardly. Oh, if I chanced on a good thing I might 
pick it up, possibly.” The very fact that a man was from 
New York, Boston, or any large city stamped him at once as 
a “ capitalist,” and miners trotted after him continually, giving 
him no peace by day or night. 

“ I’ve got the biggest thing in the San Juan you ever 
heerd of. Solid vein of quartz six feet thick, full of gold in 
specks the size of a pea and up. It’ll run five thousand dol- 
lars to the ton, an’ is worth five millions. I’ll — ” 

“ Garmand,” said Tom, “there goes a man that I want to 
speak to, come;” and he dragged away the surprised Eng- 
lishman. “That man will talk you blind, and there’s no 
heading him off. He’s very amusing though, when you have 
leisure.” 

“ Come an’ see me,” Shorty called after them. “ First 
tent on the right as you pass the end of the lake.” 

“ I’ll see him again. Really, I consider him quite a study.” 
“ Yes, you can put a great deal of study there in a small 
space.” 

They now entered the Elk Mountain saloon, kept by 
Texas Jack. Texas Jack was a gentlemanly gambler. He 
kept the most high-toned establishment in the jfiace. The 
building was a long double cabin, that is, a cabin built of two 
lengths of logs, making one long building. On one side was 
a bar made of planed lumber, but unpainted. It was distin- 
guished from the other less aristocratic bars of the place by 
the fact that they were both unplaned and unpainted. The 
customary metal stoves weyre in full blast. Further toward 


2o8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


the rear were tables for faro, keno,and other seductive Rocky 
Mountain amusements. Here night after night some of the 
miners lost in bets the money they needed to purchase flour, 
bacon and powder. 

Texas Jack himself happened to be back of the counter 
where the barkeeper usually presided. He was a magnificent 
specimen of manhood, six feet high, and of powerful build. 
His head was rather wide at the base of the ears, but he had 
a good forehead and regular, pleasing features. He had full 
lips, a chin with a median depression, and a short neck that in- 
dicated great physical resources. His keen eye told at a 
glance that the man who got ahead of Texas Jack, must get 
up very early in the morning, possibly he must stay up all 
night. 

He was dressed in buckskin trousers with buckskin fringe 
down the outer seams, a short, light-colored corduroy coat, 
wine-colored velvet vest, blue flannel shirt with neck-tie, and 
a cream-colored sombrero of immense proportions. Texas 
Jack was the best informed man in town. Though no- 
body knew anything of his antecedents, it was apparent that 
he had possessed the advantages of education and polite asso- 
ciations in his youth. Whatever he might once have been he 
was now a frontiersman who knew the country and its ways 
like a book. In the money-drawer lay a six-shooter and an- 
other quietly reposed among the lemons on a shelf in plain 
view. This was a sort of silent police which had a wonder- 
ful effect in keeping order, for it was generally believed that 
no man in camp could “ get the drop” on Texas Jack. Yet 
his manners were easy and cordial, and though he may have 
“ killed his man ” elsewhere in the West, he had not yet estab- 
lished any such sanguinary reputation at Ruby Buttes. 

When Norwell, Wilson and Garmand entered Jack stepped 
smilingly forward and greeted his friends over the bar, 
ready to minister to their wants for things spirituous. This 
want usually took the form of whisky straight at twenty-five 
cents a nip. The reader must understand here that the ad- 
jective straight does not apply to the whisky itself, which 
certainly was not above suspicion, but to the manner of serv- 
ing. Norwell, however, had no intention of imbibing, but 
merely wished to introduce his friend. 

“ Mr. Garmand, Texas Jack. Jack, Mr. Garmand.” To 
introduce a well-known frontiersman by his real name, ignor- 
ing the popular appellation, would be a grave breach of eti- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


209 


quette as robbing the individual of his acquired laurels and 
relegating him to the rank of an ordinary mortal. So the 
gambler was merely Texas Jack instead of Mr. Sanders. To 
call him Sanders would have been an insult which there was 
no legitimate way of resenting, and would consequently be 
taking a mean advantage of a gentleman. Jack, leaning over 
the bar, grasped Garmand’s hand cordially: 

“ How d’ye do, Mr. Garmand. Happy to know you. 
Eastern man?” 

“ Rawther, in fact, yes, London,” said Garmand, with a 
drawl that made Jack’s eyes sparkle with a keen sense of the 
humor lurking in cockney expression. 

“ London. That is quite a ways east. As you are such a 
great stranger, I reckon the treat’s on the Buttes. What’ll you 
have, gents?” Garmand took beer. His limited experience 
had not inured him to the peculiarly exhilarating influences 
of American whisky when imbibed by the tumblerful. Sev- 
eral miners hanging around had a poorly-disguised con- 
tempt for the man who would pour so weak a libation as 
beer on the altar of newly-made acquaintance. Norwell, 
whose notions on the subjects of temperance were very easy, 
said he would try a seductive combination known as <c Rock 
and Rye.” It proved to be a beverage in which the rock, 
whatever that might be, greatly predominated over the rye, 
and a swallow sufficed for Tom’s New York taste. Wilson 
never drank under any circumstances, but knew it was not 
politic to risk giving offence to so influential an individual as 
Texas Jack, so he took a cigar. After a few minutes’ con- 
versation the party left the saloon. Garmand remarked to 
Tom, as they were picking their way over the big boulders 
that covered the street: 

“ Saw your girl the day before I left New York.” 

“ Indeed,” replied Tom carelessly. 

“ Yes, she sent her best regards to you. But then I sup- 
pose you’ve had them more direct before this.” 

u I’m much obliged to you,” said Tom, evading the in- 
direct question. “ As you cannot carry mine back directly, 
I suppose it is useless to intrust you with them now.” 

On the hill near the Bismarck was a claim called the 
Ivanhoe, owned by two young men who worked it, and 
an old man who furnished the capital. These young men 
were straightforward gentlemen. On this same Sunday one 
of them, by the name of George Mack, came to Wilson and 


14 


210 


AN IRON CROWN. 


confidentially informed him that he was considered the lead- 
ing spirit in the defense of the Bismarck, and that the jump- 
ing party had by no means abandoned their attempt to get 
possession of the claim. Since open jumping by force of arms, 
however, would not be tolerated by the other miners of the 
camp, Mack cautioned Wilson to be on his guard constantly, 
lest some attempt should be made to accomplish by under- 
handed measures what they had failed to effect by force. 
Mack further remarked that in case of trouble Norwell and 
Wilson could rely on the Ivanhoe boys for assistance. 

“ I know the Long brothers and that Argenta crowd,” he 
said. “ They tried their tricks up there till they had to skip 
the camp.” 

The following Monday the Long party located the 
Keokuk lode on a little bit of vacant ground scarcely wider 
than a bed quilt. It was a triangle between other claims, and 
so small that it had escaped the notice of prospectors. Under 
the mining laws a man can follow an unclaimed lead any- 
where underground if he only has sufficient vacant surface to 
dig a shaft on. The Keokuk surveyed directly toward the 
Bismarck, and it was apparent that this was only another at- 
tempt to steal that property, which was showing up better 
every day as the work progressed. But the Keokuk was 
legally located, and there was no help for it. 

Work began at once. As the two shafts were but a short 
distance apart, the two companies naturally became better ac- 
quainted. The Long party tried to be cordial. They had 
apparently forgotten all about the attack on the Bismarck in 
which they came out second best. Wilson, having been 
warned, distrusted them, but Norwell’ s unsuspicious good 
nature was inclined to forgive the attempted wrong, particu- 
larly since it had signally failed. Neither of them, however, 
gave the slightest encouragement to the advances of the Long 
brothers, whom they regarded as sneaking, cowardly and dis- 
honest. The other men frequently came over to the Bis- 
marck to look at the “ truck.” One of them, bv the name of 

* %/ 

Berry, seemed a fair sort of fellow, and by degrees got on 
good terms with the Bismarck boys. 

One afternoon Norwell was obliged to take some drills 
down town to'"be sharpened. Doffmeyer took the windlass, 
and Wilson went into the shaft. Little Hackett had never 
felt right since the bullet struck him. In fact, he seemed to 
get thinner and weaker every day. He kept up manfully, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


21 I 

i 

but the boys allowed him to do but little work. Lately he had 
been taking short trips, prospecting in company with a boy by 
the name of Ward, who was about his own age. These short 
excursions enabled him to enjoy, from the tops of the mount- 
ains, the magnificent scenery which stretched away for many 
miles in sublime grandeur. 

On this particular afternoon Berry came over, as usual. 
He was on the night shift of the Keokuk. He spent the 
forenoon sleeping, and the afternoon lounging around other 
claims, or at town. There was a tremendous mistake in the 
matter of Doffmeyer coming into this part of the world. He 
seized every available opportunity to escape from hard work, 
and should have been born in those tropical regions where 
men pluck a luxurious repast from the trees without the dis- 
agreeable preliminaries of planting and harvest. But for some 
inscrutable reason the Deity had placed him in the midst of 
industrious people who earn their daily bread by hard labor. 
Doubtless lazy people, like fleas, rats and other pests, have a 
mission, but it is not very apparent. Doffmeyer suddenly re- 
membered that he had pressing business down town, and 
Berry readily consented to take his place at the windlass. 
This change was effected without Wilson’s knowledge. The 
first he knew of it was when he called out, “Hoist,” and look- 
ing up, saw Berry step to the windlass. 

“Hello, that you, Berry? Where’s Doffmeyer?” 

“Gone to town. I’m going to spell him awhile.” Wil- 
son said no more. Bucket after bucket of rock slowly rose 
from the shaft, which was now nearly forty feet deep. At 
last the loose rock was cleared away, and Wilson thought he 
could pick about an hour before putting in another blast. 
There had been several buckets of water to draw up. The 
last shot had shattered the rock badly, and for the first time 
the Bismarck was to encounter the serious difficulty of water. 
Berry wished to go over to the Keokuk cabin after some to- 
bacco. Wilson said, “All right. Let down the rope and put 
in the crank-pin before you go.”- This pin inserted in the 
upright of the windlass prevented the crank from turning. 
The rope could then be used as a means of climbing out of 
the shaft. Berry let down the rope and walked away, leav- 
ing Wilson forty feet in the ground. 

The latter picked vigorously at the rock for about twenty 
minutes and then called “ bucket.” He sat down and rested 
for a few minutes, thinking Berry was somewhere near. He 


212 


AN IRON CROWN. 


shouted “ bucket” again. No response. Then he rattled 
the rope which would shake the windlass and attract atten- 
tion. To his surprise it unwound a little. With an exclama- 
tion of impatience he pulled it again; it unwound further. 
The few minutes’ rest in his perspiring condition gave him a 
sense of chilliness. He went to work and picked vigorously 
for a few minutes. 

Some distance above, perhaps at a height of fifteen feet, 
was a shoulder of rock which projected into the shaft a foot 
or more at its thickest edge. It was a huge irregular slab 
that looked as if it should come out, but the seams in the rock 
rendered it impossible to make a smooth, regular shaft. At 
first they had often tried this immense fragment, which 
appeared to be wedged firmly in the unbroken rock, to see if 
it was loose. It had always appeared to be so firmly set that 
it was considered perfectly safe. Under this great wedge 
the seams in the rock had caused the shaft to encroach slightly 
on the wall rock, and then it suddenly resumed its regular 
dimensions, leaving a narrow ledge hardly six inches wide. 
By mounting on this ledge, some eight feet from the bottom, 
Wilson could insert his pick under the threatening mass and 
test its strength. To his surprise he found it dangerously 
loose, the crack having opened at the top of it an inch or 
more. He must be hauled up out of danger from its fall, 
and pry it off at once. 

Again he shouted “ bucket.” No response. He called at 
the top of his voice, but the sound only rolled around the 
shaft in a confusing way, that half frightened him, and 
appeared to die within the great well in mocking echoes. He 
listened attentively. His ear could now detect what he had 
never before noticed. The click of the hammer on the drill 
head in the Yankee Doodle could be plainly heard. The in- 
tervening rock conveyed the sound in a low monotonous “ tup, 
tup, tup, tup.” Again he shouted “ Berry ” at the top of his 
voice. He was startled at the result. The echoes rolled 
around the shaft, and came back to him as plainly as he ever 
heard words in his life, u buried.” 

The sound had an ominous suggestiveness that made him 
shudder for a moment. But his strong physical nature rallied 
against anything resembling a presentiment. It was the 
damp chill of the shaft which made him shiver. His old 
coat daubed all over with clay lay on a rock in the corner; he 
put it on. Here was a predicament. At once he suspected 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2I 3 


Berry of a trick, for he could never get over his suspicions of 
the Long gang. He banished that thought almost as soon as 
formed. What could be accomplished by leaving a man in a 
shaft an hour or two? Nothing. Night was rapidly ap- 
proaching, when Nor well would return and release him. 

The chilly air grew heavier and damper. He set to 
work and picked vigorously for a few minutes, when he dis- 
covered that the water had come in so rapidly, that nothing 
more could be done till that was removed. He sat down 
on a piece of rock. A little fragment from above fell 
on his back. He rose and looked intently at the big 
wedge directly overhead. Was the crack a little wider 
that marked its upper edge? He strained his eyes intently. 
Another bit of rock fell. The great mass was slowly forc- 
ing itself out of the rude, groove-like bed, where it had 
rested for ages. It was time to get out of here. Again he 
called, u Berry.” This time the echo seemed to have a mock- 
ing tone as it answered, “ Buried.” 

Then he thought of the rope. Forty feet was a good 
climb for a man who was unused to climbing ropes. He said, 
half aloud: “ It’s easy to try.” The low sepulchral echo mur- 
mured to his excited fancy, “ It’s easy to die.” The thought 
was a very uncomfortable one, but he had no notion of dying 
just yet. He took hold of the rope and pulled it downward, 
intending when it drew taut to climb out. Suddenly he re- 
membered that the rope itself was not fastened to the wind- 
lass. It was very long, and as several coils were always 
around the drum there was no need of a secure fastening. 
Hence it had been attached only by a small rope, which he 
remembered was not new. He raised himself and threw all 
his weight on the rope. It did not part. To be sure, he de- 
termined to give it a thorough test. He climbed up to his 
own height and dangled violently. Still it held firm. He 
looped one foot into it after mounting the little ledge above 
and jumped off. It snapped and came down in a confusing 
coil all around his head. Could he climb out? There was no 
possibility of his climbing up those jagged wet rocks. 

The water had now gathered to a considerable depth. 
He had been seriously splashed when he came down from the 
ledge. He was cold, hungry and tired. He looked up. The 
setting sun was lighting the extreme top of a tall spruce with 
a dull red glow. In a few minutes twilight would begin. 
Norwell might now be expected any minute. Berry had 


214 


AN IRON CROWN. 


evidently played him a contemptible trick. He dared not call 
that name again aloud for the echo, cc buried,” still seemed to 
ring in his ears. 

Wilson again climbed to the narrow ledge. The water 
had now covered the last of the loose, rocks, and still crawled 
steadily, slowly, mercilessly toward its prey. He must seek 
refuge from its icy embrace on the slippery bench. Then he 
jumped down again in sudden alarm, for the ledge was 
directly under the moving mass of rock. When he got 
down he found the water nearly to the tops of his high rubber 
boots. He should freeze to death in that icy bath. He 
climbed again to the little ledge. It was not over six inches 
wide, and he could not sit down there. He could in fact, 
only stand by placing his feet carefully one before the other 
on the slimy stone, and bracing himself with one elbow 
against the cold wet rock which formed the other side of the 
triangle. “Norwell will surely soon be here,” thought the im- 
prisoned man. “ They are waiting supper for me now and will 
soon come to call me.” 

Suddenly an awful thought flashed across his mind. That 
day he had announced his intention of going over to O-Be-Joy- 
ful gulch, to see a friend of his from the East and stay all 
night. They might not come to release him till morning. 
The thought gave him a chill and he shivered in the icy air. 
Then his blood went tingling to every extremity in a hot flush 
of frenzy, at the desperate situation in which treachery had 
placed him. He was caged here with a deliberate refinement 
of cruelty, far worse than that which leaves the mangled 
wild beast to perish slowly in the trap. 

The sunlight faded from the great spruce tree overhead, 
and the twinkling stars appeared. It was now very dark in 
the Bismarck shaft. It was plain that Norwell thought he 
had gone on his visit without supper.* Below the starlight fell 
dimly on the water, showing that it rose inch by inch, a slow, 
but sure and miserable death. No human being could endure 
its icy coldness till morning. It would soon reach the ledge, 
soon pass the tops of his rubber boots — then would begin its 
deliberate, cruel attack on the life stored in the pulsing cur- 
rents of the blood. He began to reckon confusedly, whether 
all this might not take sufficient time for them to find him 
still alive in the morning. He could make out nothing satis- 
factory. Hope hates figures. 

A good-sized fragment of rock dropped from above, and 


AN IRON CROWN. * 215 

startled him as it splashed into the sullen pool. He listened with 
ears strained by an agony of apprehension, for he could no 
longer see the awful danger surrounding him. The creaking 
of the moving mass was plainly audible to his excited imagi- 
nation. It certainly must soon give way. Ah, this death, 
unlike the crawling icy terror below, would be swift and cer- 
tain. The great rock seemed to him like a wild animal 
crouching to bound upon its victim. It would crush him in an 
instant, then all would be over. He almost wished it would 
make haste in its work. It was better far than the merciless 
monster below, which was satisfied to crawl with slow delib- 
eration toward its dreadful purpose. After all, the stone 
might miss him in its fall. ^He would fight desperately for 
his life. He shrank as close as possible against the cold rock 
of the shaft at the adjoining side. No, it was useless. It must 
either knock him off or throw up water enough to saturate 
his clothing. 

Wilson’s thoughts were exceedingly active. At once he 
realized the fiendish cruelty of his enemies, and believed they 
had entrapped him purposely. He tried in vain to devise 
some means of escape. Then he thought of the last piece of 
quartz he had taken out, and strangely enough, wondered how 
much it would assay. He inwardly cursed the rich Bismarck 
vein which had brought him to a lingering, miserable death. 
This roused him to a sense of his wrongs. He felt sure those 
men would kill Norwell too. Oh, if he could only live to 
warn his friend. 

Hark! What was that sound? His heart leaped for joy. 
He recognized human voices. It was the night shift going to 
work on the Yankee Doodle. It must be only eight o’clock; 
it had seemed an age. He would call to them. At first he 
had an irresistible impulse to call Berry’s name and hear what 
the echo would say this time. No, he would not call the 
despicable traitor. Perhaps some of the men might have a 
spark of humanity remaining which would not allow them 
to see a fellow being perish like a worm. He called loudly 
for help. No reply. He yelled at the top of his voice; still 
no reply, and all was silent in the solemn woods. Presently 
he heard the measured “ tup, tup, tup, tup,” in the Yankee 
Doodle. The men were all at work drilling and could not 
hear him. 

Numbed and cramped, Wilson felt he could not hope 
to hold out all night even if the big rock did not give 


21 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


way. He must change his position and rest his aching mus- 
cles. Putting one hand out carefully against the wall to get 
a new hold, he felt, oh joy! a “ snuff” sticking in the clay of 
a crevice. A snuff is a bit of candle used for firms: the fuse 
when a blast is discharged. With much effort, owing to the 
numbness of his fingers, he succeeded in striking a match 
which miners always carry, and lighted the poor little candle 
scarce half an inch long. He could at least see his danger. 
The sight was not reassuring, for the flickering rays of the 
water-soaked candle revealed the fact that the water was nearly 
to the ledge on which he stood, and consequently between 
six and eight feet deep. But suddenly his eyes lighted on an 
object that caused his heart to bound with hope. The water 
had brought up with it a short, stout piece of timber about 
ten feet long, which had been used as a skid. If he could 
only reach that he might be able to plant it firmly in the crev- 
ices so as to slide off the impending rock from a direct course. 

But the upper end of the piece of timber was at the opposite 
side of the shaft. It was extremely hazardous to attempt to 
cross to it. Crossing involved turning round on the slippery 
ledge. With infinite care he worked his feet backward rest- 
ing the right hand against the side wall which he now faced, 
until his body was bent double and he could no longer safely 
balance himself. This was the critical point, the letting go 
with one hand to place the other on the opposite wall. Then 
he slowly straightened himself up and balanced his body di- 
rectly under the loose rock, leaning with his back flat against 
the wall. He scarcely dared breathe lest he should lose his 
balance. The danger of the impending rock was forgotten 
in the more imminent chance of tumbling into the icy water. 
Then he worked his feet around on the leds:e till the toes 
pointed in the opposite direction, next sliding his body care- 
fully along the wall behind him till his left hand reached the 
other wall. The difficult feat was performed and he worked 
himself directly over the end of the coveted skid, which was 
now worth more than its weight in gold. Here a new diffi- 
culty arose. Stoop as much as he dared he could not reach 
the floating log, and was in imminent danger of falling head 
first into the water. The candle too, was expiring. Suddenly 
he remembered he had another snuff left in his pocket when 
he fired the last blast. This could not last very long, how- 
ever, and the work must be done quickly. The bit of candle 
was placed in a niche of the wall. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


217 


Looking intently at the stick below, he observed a short 
stub of a branch projecting two or three inches. A sudden 
idea came like an inspiration. He would make a lasso of 
his suspenders and hook them on the little limb. With infi- 
nite pains, holding to the wall as best he could, Wilson man- 
aged to remove his suspenders and fasten the front ends 
together forming a loop, while he held the crotch of the hind 
end in his hand. It was very uncertain work fishing for the 
little projecting stub in the dim light. Finally he caught it 
fairly and slowly drew the skid upward which was no diffi- 
cult matter so long as it remained in the water. With great 
pains he got it on end directly under him. Then he gradually 
drew it up till, with a supreme effort, which nearly cost him 
his balance, he landed the well-seasoned log endwise on the 
little bench. It was now only a question of time and caution. 
He carefully slid one end from him till it rested firmly against 
the opposite corner, beyond the possibility of slipping. The 
end over his head fortunately was just the length to rest se- 
curely in a deep niche which would not let the skid slip when 
the rock fell on it. 

One danger was averted. The monster below remained 
in all his terrors. The icy water was now crawling over the 
ledge as the last snuff expired. The joy of rescue from im- 
mediate danger was so great, that in the reaction following, 
Wilson’s limbs trembled till he clung to the friendly beam 
above him for support. Its presence at once inspired him 
with new life. By its aid he hoped to hold out till morning. 
In his gratitude he hugged the precious log as his dearest, 
best friend, and clung to it as a child clings to its mother. 

Then there came a great revulsion. The prisoner was 
thoroughly exhausted by his superhuman efforts. He leaned 
heavily on the friendly log though he knew safety demanded 
that he should get under it. But that was impossible. In 
his numbed condition he could no longer stand on the narrow 
ledge without throwing one arm around the skid for support. 
Human endurance could do no more. After all, he was still 
facing death. Not only facing it, but had it at his back. Com- 
pared with such a situation, the dangers of battle become 
trifling. There you have a foe in front of you who, like 
yourself, is human, and who may be merciful. The soldier 
has an even chance against his enemy, and has the inspiration 
of companionship with the consciousness that if he falls his 
death may serve his country. Here was a man entrapped in 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2l8 

a remorseless vise that was slowly closing. Below was a 
creeping thing that slowly but surely rose to fasten upon him, 
and little by little drown the fires of life. Above was a creak- 
ing, crunching, brute force that seemed to gloat over its vic- 
tim’s agony before it sprang to crush him. 

Wilson now realized the horror of his situation. There 
was no hope. The thoughts of the doomed man again grew 
active. They flew hither and thither over the events of his 
past life. Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud report. 
Boom, boom, boom! Three heavy shots in the Yankee 
Doodle aroused him. It must be about eleven o’clock, for 
three men could put in three shots since eight. They must 
now be outside, and he would call again. But his voice was 
husky and did not appear to rise above the damp vapors of 
the shaft. He was not greatly disappointed. He was ready 
to die, and no longer clung desperately to hope as he did 
when fixing the skid in place. He was very numb and grew 
drowsy, then went into a half-dreamy condition. 

He woke from this doze with a start and imagined he 
could recognize Tom Norwell’s voice. It was pleasant to 
hear those familiar tones, even in a dream. Again they 
softly called, “ Wilson, Arthur!” Now he was wide awake, 
for he thought he heard the sound of other voices. W as it 
a fantasy, or were there men at the mouth of the shaft? 

With all his remaining strength he called, u Hello! Tom.” 
It was a delusion. There were no voices. Again he called 
“ Norwell.” Immediately Tom’s voice in excited tones 
called down the shaft, “ Are you there, Wilson?” 

<c Yes, for God’s sake get me out quick. I’m nearly dead 
with cold.” In a frenzy of joy he clung desperately to the 
log lest he might yet fall into the water. 

The Bismarck rope was in the bottom of the shaft, but to 
get one from the Yankee Doodle was the work of but a few 
minutes. Strong arms hoisted the exhausted man quickly to 
the top. Just as he landed on the platform, the loose mass of 
rock gave way and dropped into the water with a frightful 
splash. With awe-stricken faces the men looked at each 
other, and one said in a low tone, “ I never knowed a closer 
call since the big cave in the c Iron Hat,’ at Argenta.” But 
Wilson heard nothing. He had swooned in Norwell’s arms. 
For three days he lay in a fever, and at times his senses wan- 
dered in delirium. Then he begged them not to drown him. 
But his vigorous constitution rapidly rallied and before long 
he was ready to work at the windlass. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


219 


Berry disclaimed all evil intent in this strange affair. On 
going to the cabin he met one of the Long brothers, who 
dispatched him to town for powder and fuse. He thought 
Wilson could easily climb the rope if he wished to get out 
before Doffmeyer returned. Hackett got supper at six o’clock 
and waited anxiously, but nobody came. Norwell returned 
at seven and found him very nervous and uneasy. As Wil- 
son had not come to supper they concluded he had gone on 
his contemplated visit. When Doffmever returned after ten 
o’clock at night and reported that he had left Berry at the 
windlass and Wilson in the shaft, Tom censured him for such 
a very careless, if not dangerous proceeding. Norwell and 
Hackett at once determined to go up to the shaft, though they 
did not really anticipate that anything unusual had happened. 
Not caring to let the Long party know of their visit, which 
seemed a little mysterious, Tom had called softly into the 
shaft several times, but receiving no answer had started back 
toward the cabin, when Wilson’s voice came to him indis- 
tinctly. Then he was on the point of starting homeward 
again when Hackett’s sensitive ear caught Wilson’s sec- 
ond cry. 

When Norwell learned all the particulars of Berry’s 
treachery, he was furious. Buckling on a heavy six-shooter, 
he announced his determination of seeking Berry and de- 
manding an explanation. Such a course beyond doubt, would 
have resulted in bloodshed. With great difficulty Hackett 
and Doffmeyer dissuaded him from this course. When Wil- 
son recovered, he argued that no good' could come from an 
open quarrel. They must however, be constantly on their 
guard. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

DEATH ON THE CLIFF. THE BISMARCK TAKEN BY 

STRATEGY. 

The narrow escape of Wilson from a frightful death had 
a bad effect on Little Hackett. His nerves were completely 
unstrung. No especial form of disease manifested itself, but 
he daily grew thinner and paler. The poor hunchback ex- 


220 


AN IRON CROWN. 


hibited many of the signs of old age. He had never had a 
healthy development, and was now rapidly wearing out under 
the effects of this highly electrical, stimulating climate. The 
only physician in the camp said he would never be strong 
anywhere. Perhaps after a few months’ acclimation he 
might in a measure recover his health. But an event soon 
after occurred which greatly accelerated his decline. He and 
young Ward had still been prospecting almost daily in the 
mountains. Allusion has been made to the magnificent sce- 
nery around Ruby Buttes, and a short description of its strik- 
ing features may be of interest. 

The town is situated in a wide gulch, at the head of which 
is a basin of considerable extent, containing a lake of perhaps 
twenty acres. Above this basin, which is itself ten thousand 
feet above the sea, the ground rises into ridges, which cul- 
minate in a mighty peak that pierces the clouds at an eleva- 
tion of nearly fifteen thousand feet. At the very head of this 
basin and at the foot of the peak lies a beautiful little emer- 
ald lake, shaped like an enormous punch bowl. This lake 
empties its waters over a cliff in a silvery cascade about seven- 
ty-five feet high. The lake and waterfall are covered with 
an immense snowdrift every winter, to a depth at times, of 
perhaps one hundred and fifty feet. In the spring the water 
cuts its way under this snowy mantle, and the foaming cata- 
ract gradually eats out in the snow a beautiful dome of great 
dimensions, the interior of which is worn into wave-like de- 
pressions and elevations. This surface, covered with exquisite 
frost work formed by the spray, shines like burnished silver, 
with a beauty which is only rivaled by the foaming liquid sil- 
ver below. This snowy wonder lasts all summer, defying 
even the hot suns of August. 

From the ridge, the view is one of unequaled grandeur and 
sublimity. The west side of the basin is a mighty wedge 
of rock with the thin edge high in the air. Deep indenta- 
tions, at nearly regular intervals, give it the appearance of a 
saw, or a gigantic comb with some of the teeth missing. 
Through these notches shines the wondrous blue Colorado 
sky. There is something sublime and almost awful, in the 
intense dark blue of this sky, which seems like a veil hung 
before the portals of eternity. To the north, east and south, 
from the head of this ridge may be seen one confusing jumble 
of peaks and ridges to the farthest extent of vision, which 
means in this clear atmosphere at least one hundred miles. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


221 


There are peaks of a cold gray color, peaks of a warm red 
that suggest “ paint,” peaks of yellow, peaks green with tim- 
ber, peaks bare in naked majesty, peaks whose different for- 
mations give them a striped appearance like a convict’s jacket; 
everywhere peaks and ridges, resembling a great stony sea, 
whose mighty waves have been suddenly stilled by a power 
that even the mountains must obey. These are no hillocks, 
like the Appalachians. There are several giants in sight, 
whose altitude is nearly fifteen thousand feet. Their tops 
stand far above the timber line, naked, storm-swept, and 
desolate. The sides of most of the mountains are very pre- 
cipitous, and every rock, crevice or projection stands out start- 
lingly distinct in the clear atmosphere. It is a common ob- 
servation that this scenery is depressing. It reminds man of 
his own littleness. 

Away off to the south on a distant ridge, stands a vast 
rock mass which exactly resembles a mediaeval castle. One 
could sit and watch it almost expecting to see banners flung 
from its battlements and lofty towers, while doughty knights 
press on to the siege. Only the panoply of mediaeval war- 
fare is needed to carry us back to the days of the Crusaders. 

On the east of this basin beyond a long ridge, is a paral- 
lel one with a steeper slope, at the head of which the moun- 
tain rises gradually in a broad meadow, free from large rocks. 
This wide expanse looks like an eastern pasture field, so in- 
viting is its smooth outlines. The weary climber toils higher 
and higher up its sides in zig-zag lines until he reaches the top. 
Beware! The inviting smoothness of its sky line is deceit- 
ful. Scarce ten feet before you is a cliff that drops down 
sheer five hundred feet, and three thousand more in a dizzy 
slope of jagged, heaping rocks. Stand back, or this unex- 
pected yawning gulf may set your brain in a giddy whirl. 
Away below, at least five thousand feet, is a lovely little 
valley inclosing several tiny lakelets, that resemble enor- 
mous green buttons on a buff garment. Out of this vale 
flows a streamlet so crooked that it knots itself up in the grass 
like a mighty serpent. Along the sides of the mountain wall 
may be seen in the accessible spots holes dug by the miners, 
for everything in this country is staked, except the clouds and 
the wraith-like columns of misty rain and snow, that pass in 
ghostly processions across the lofty peaks. Busy miners are 
boring this great wall full of holes in search of silver, and the 
stones turned loose by them go leaping down, down, down, 


222 


AN IRON CROWN. 


till they become mere specks in the distance, like fleeing 
rabbits. 

Little Hackett and young Ward had for several days been 
prospecting this great ridge in search of mineral “ float ” that 
might indicate the presence of undiscovered leads. Contrary 
to the advice of Hackett, Ward resolved to climb over the 
precipitous cliff in a spot not far from where a zig-zag trail, 
itself dangerous, passed over the ridge into the basin to the 
north. He advanced cautiously along the side of the mountain, 
picking into the crevices and carefully examining the rock. 
Hackett, who sat on the ridge out of sight resting, suddenly 
heard a cry of horror. He ran to the edge of the cliff and 
looking over saw the body of his unfortunate companion 
plunging down the steep declivity, followed by a shower of 
bounding rocks. A loose stone had given way under his 
feet. Doubtless the first fatal plunge killed him instantly. 
The body plunged and rolled downward, at times slacking 
almost to a full stop at some ledge; then it started faster 
again, then dangled limp over some obstruction almost to a 
stop, only to pitch down the declivity with renewed speed, 
till a mangled mass, it stopped at the bottom, a mere black 
speck. Hackett turned away sick at heart. He could not 
bear to look. The suddenness of his companion’s dreadful 
fate for a moment paralyzed his faculties. He seemed in- 
capable of thinking or moving. Then he roused himself to 
the necessity of reporting the accident in camp. Arriving 
there he went at once to Ward’s tent and related the terrible 
occurrence to the wretched mother and sister. It would serve 
no purpose to describe the scene that followed, were language 
adequate to depict such great and sudden affliction. The 
father was absent at work. They brought home the mangled 
body, and sympathizing miners prepared it for burial. His 
grave was the first in camp. He had come to the country in 
the vigor of youth seeking his fortune, only to be laid at rest 
in that lonely grave beneath the shade of the dark forest. 
With him were laid the fondest hopes of grief-stricken par- 
ents who had come to this land of silver to find only 
sorrow. 

After this Little Hackett went prospecting no more. He 
spread a blanket on the warm ground near a patch of the 
beautiful bluebells where a spring gurgled down the hillside. 
Here he reclined and read, or wrote letters to his sister Mary 
and Aunt Rhoda. Norwell was very anxious about him. 


AN IRON CROWN. 223 

Hackett could not help noticing this, and one day when they 
were alone, he said : 

4 * Mr. Tom, I’m glad we came to Colorado.” 

44 Why, Johnnie ? ” 

46 Oh, we’ll make lots of money out of the Bismarck.” 
Tom glanced at the wasted face and preternaturally bright 
eyes of the boy to see if he could catch any indication that 
the invalid was aware of his real condition. But the latter 
gave no sign. 

44 Hackett, sometimes I’m sorry you came with us.” 

‘ 4 Am I too much trouble, Mr. Tom?” 

44 No,” replied Tom hastily, “it’s not that. You know I 
didn’t mean that.” Then there was an awkward pause. 
Each knew what the other was thinking about. At length 
Tom added, as if it was an afterthought, 44 it’s too hard on 
you in this rough country, Johnnie.” 

44 Never mind me, Mr. Tom. It’s the rest of you boys 
that are having the hard work, while I sit in the sun and read, 
or watch the ground-squirrels and the butterflies. I wonder 
if butterflies are happy ? ” 

44 1 think so. They have nothing to do but enjoy the 
sunshine.” 

44 But then the damp nights come and chill them, and the 
frost soon stops their sailing among the flowers. ’Pears to me 
they have their share of trouble, too. Everything that we get 
that is worth having costs a heap of trouble.” Then he 
added with sudden energy, 44 1 shouldn’t want to be a but- 
terfly if I could. I want to be doing something useful, but it 
seems like I can’t.” 

44 When you get used to the mountains you’ll get stronger 
and get your breath easier,” replied Tom uneasily, hardly 
knowing how to divert the boy’s thoughts from a subject 
which was to his robust nature peculiarly repulsive, the old, 
old story of death. The little brook gurgled in its narrow 
channel hidden by grass and rank weeds; the wind soughed 
and sighed in the tall spruces; a prowling 44 camp robber” 
perched on a tree scarce twenty feet away; but neither of the 
two human beings alone on the mountain side broke the silence 
for a minute or so. Then Little Hackett spoke as if he were 
just beginning the conversation: 

44 Mr. Tom, I’ll never get my breath any easier, I guess. 
I’ve about give up thinking I can ever work my share in the 
Bismarck.” 


224 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Why Hackett,” said Tom in surprise, as he caught a 
glimpse of the boy’s secret trouble, “ you’ve worked your 
share all along. Cooking and errands were your share, while 
we worked on the claim.” 

u But I can’t do that any more. How long can a fellow 
hold his share without working before he loses it?” 

“Now, Hackett, you mustn’t think that way about your 
claim. We’re working your share and shall do it. You take 
things easy and don’t worry till you get better.” 

“ I’ll pay the boys all out of the ore when we get it.” 

“ Yes, that’s all right, Hackett. Did you hear from home 
to-day?” asked Tom, anxious to change the subject of conver- 
sation, and draw the boy’s mind away from the gloomy topic 
on which it dwelt. 

“ Yes, the Mountain Queen boys brought a letter from 
Mary. She sends you her kind regards. Mr. Tom, I think 
you’ve been very good to me.” 

“ Oh, that’s all right. Let’s not mention that.” 

“ But I will. You paid my way out here. Then you and 
Mr. Wilson gave me a share in the Bismarck. I guess it’s 
goin’ to make us all rich. I’ll not need it, maybe, but it will 
be so nice for Mary and Aunt Rhoda. Mary can quit the 
bindery and start a flower-shop or something.” The boy’s 
eyes lighted with the anticipation of the bright future in store 
for his dear ones at home, and a faint glow came to his wasted 
cheeks. 

“Yes, and you’ll cabbage many a buttonhole bouquet 
from her,” said Tom, as he seized the axe and rushed out 
under pretense of getting stovewood. Outside he wiped a 
tear from his eye.- He could not bear to keep up this conver- 
sation with his helpless friend, who now clearly realized that 
he must soon leave the boys to prospect for himself in an un- 
known land. 

Work continued steadily on the Bismarck. Day by day it 
looked better. Daily miners came to see the rich lead which 
was now the talk of the camp. They all stopped to see the 
sick boy, who seldom left his sheltered spot on the blanket by 
the cabin. Hackett by his ramblings around the mountains 
was known to nearly all the miners in camp, and was a gen- 
eral favorite because of his intelligent conversation and win- 
ning ways. 

The Long party still insisted that the Bismarck survey did 
not follow its lead, and that they could relocate the lode out- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


225 


side the claim limits if disposed to do so. Little attention was 
paid to this talk by the owners of the Bismarck beyond keep- 
ing a strict lookout for any underhanded schemes of the other 
party. The Stengels, who now thought they had a rich mine 
beyond question, boasted continually of its value, which they 
exaggerated in spite of the warnings of Norwell and Wilson. 
The Germans appeared loyal to their copartners in the Bis- 
marck, but the fact that they were also partners with the Longs 
in the Yankee Doodle, was a constant source of distrust. 
Wilson especially, after his experience in the shaft on that 
terrible night, was not inclined to trust any stranger. He 
cautioned Norwell repeatedly against saying much about their 
mine or the late trouble. Norwell’s impulsive wrath at 
Berry’s supposed treachery had found free expression in terms 
not at all complimentary to the Long party. As a conse- 
quence, that party cordially disliked him, and spared no effort 
by ingeniously distorted explanations of the whole trouble to 
give Tom's remarks the appearance of wilful malice. The 
result was that two widely different views of the Bismarck 
troubles were held in camp. 

It happened about this time that J. W. Tooke, the “Bul- 
lion King,” stopped in Ruby Buttes for a day or two. He 
took frequent trips of the kind to the various mining camps 
of the State, looking after his numerous interests. His visit 
resulted in trouble. It was well known that Tooke was not 
at all scrupulous concerning the means by which he became 
possessed of mines. The chief point with him was to get 
them. As he had ample means to carry out any scheme he 
undertook, and never abandoned any pretension once made, 
except after the very last resort had failed, he was a danger- 
ous man to encounter. The Long party now saw an oppor- 
tunity. They had all along claimed that they were in Tooke’s 
employ. After his departure they reported that he had 
looked over the ground with them, decided that the Bismarck 
was legally theirs, and advised them that they should at once 
take possession of it. He would back them to the full extent 
of his millions, and if need be, a sheriff’s posse. Since it was 
well known that Tooke was a very unscrupulous man who 
relied on the efficacy of money and influence to accomplish 
any object whatever, this story obtained ready credence. Men 
were slow to take sides with the Bismarck owners, because by 
so doing they might bring down the wrath of the omnipotent 
“Bullion King” on their heads. It afterw 7 ard appeared, how- 


226 


AN IRON CROWN. 


ever, that Tooke had never seen the Longs or the Bismarck 
either. They had hit upon this idea as a part of their own 
ingenious rascality. 

The miner, Briggs, had thoughtlessly repeated his story 
of setting a stake on the Bismarck till it finally reached the 
Long brothers. They found his old stake, whittled off a 
clean place, wrote on it: “ Relocated Aug. 20th, by W. 
Briggs, and Long Bros.,” and set it by the Bismarck shaft. 
Honesty with many honest people is more of a sentiment than 
a principle. Briggs wasapparently that sort of honest fellow. 
The Longs and their confederates had worked him up to the 
point of reasserting his claim while they went on the stake as 
backers. It was not hard to persuade him when a share in a 
rich mine was involved, especially since he had been swindled 
out of it by the Stengels. It was claimed that Briggs’s ninety 
days’ limit for working the assessment had only expired, and 
that the mine could now be relocated. 

When Norwell, Wilson and Doffmeyer went to work that 
morning they found the Long party in possession of the Bis- 
marck, the owners of which could not, without the assistance of 
the Stengels, work a night shift and keep continual possession. 
It was a complete surprise. The Bismarck boys did not even 
h-ave their revolvers along. Latelv there had seemed to be 
no necessity of constantly carrying these inconvenient 
weapons. . Norwell and YVilson stood dumfounded. The 
jumpers were cool and guarded. They gave no hints of vio- 
lence, but pointed to the stake and urged the validity of their 
claim. Wilson carefully inquired full particulars, for he at 
once realized the futility of violent measures. Briggs readily 
explained all the circumstances. 

“But don’t you think you have forfeited all your rights by 
allowing us to work here for several weeks without protest?” 
asked Wilson. 

u I told you I had staked it.” 

“And you told us you resigned your claim,” replied Tom. 
Dick Long, who was ringleader among the jumpers, then 
spoke up: 

“ Gents, there ain’t no use argyin’ this question. I 
reckon right’s right an’ law’s law.” 

“ Talk about law in this case,” said Norwell, hotly. “You 
might as well mention honor among thieves.” 

“What do you mean by that?” asked Dick Long, bridling 
at once. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


227 


“ I mean just this. You fellows have stolen this claim, or 
tried to. But you haven’t got it yet. I have friends in this 
camp, and if friendship counts for anything I’ll get you out 
of here if we have to kill every one of you.” 

“Try it. Mebbe you’d like to try it now,” retorted the 
cowardly ruffian, who knew the other party were unarmed. 
“You rich fellers needn’t think you kin come out here and 
rob poor men o’ their rights. Because Briggs is a cripple 
you thought you could take his claim. Yer not foolin’ with 
Briggs now. He’s got backin’.” 

The Stengels, who had heard the dispute, now came up. 
They were in a perfect frenzy at the idea of losing the Bis- 
marck. If the Long party had ousted only Norwell, Wilson 
and Doflfmeyer, they would have cared little. They protested 
there was no stake on the claim when they set theirs. They 
first argued, then threatened, and finally begged. Dutch oaths 
and mangled English flowed promiscuously, but all to no 
purpose. The Long party were in possession and meant to 
stay there. Finally, Wilson said: “Gentlemen, there is a 

Miners’ Union here. I am willing to submit my claim to their 
judgment and abide by the decision.” 

“ And I’m much mistaken if they will countenance jnmp- 
ing,” said Norwell. 

“Jest so, Captain,” said Dick Long, with a sneer, “ an’ 
my opinion is you’ll find yourself considered the meanest 
jumper in camp.” 

“ I’m not asking your opinion.” 

The utmost the jumpers would consent to was the agree- 
ment to abide by the decision of the Miners’ Union. This 
was no concession at all, for the other party could demand a 
decision without them. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


THE TRIAL IN THE ELK MOUNTAIN SALOON, WHEREIN THE 

FORCIBLE NATURE OF WESTERN ARGUMENTS IS ILLUS- 
TRATED. — hackett’s SPEECH. 

Nor well returned to the cabin in a condition bordering on 
despair. He feared the decision in advance, and had fore- 
bodings of failure to accomplish anything in mining. He 
had never known the want of money until lately. Pie could 
endure privation and toil so long as the incentive of a great 
reward was held out. For him pleasure in life was to be 
found chiefly in the good things which money would buy. 
To Wilson these things did not seem of the utmost moment; 
to Norwell they were everything. Without at least a com- 
petence, life would be to him a miserable delusion. What 
enjoyment could a man have if he must always be counting 
the cost of every little pleasure. Bacon, beans and soiled 
brown overalls seemed to satisfy Wilson as well as dainty 
viands and broadcloth. At least he used them with indiffer- 
ence. Norwell, while he never complained, accepted these 
things with a constant protest which was too apparent. He 
had nourished the fond hope that they should all get rich 
from the Bismarck. Now that hope was blasted or endan- 
gered as suddenly as his father’s wealth had flown. He must 
and would make money by some means. He needed it. 
Alice had written that she was copying lawyers’ briefs for a 
living. Though she did not complain he knew it was hard 
work for small pay. He could not endure to see his sister 
who was reared to every luxury, suffer privation. Then there 
was Little Hackett’s bitter disappointment in his last days. 
Norwell’s impetuous nature rebelled against the injustice that 
pursued him, till he felt in moments of desperation like resort- 
ing to violent measures. 

Wilson, who was equally indignant, adopted a wiser 
course. He urged the necessity of seeing their friends at once 
and explaining the whole difficulty, so that the miners could 
have time to think over the subject and see fully the extent 

(228) 


AN IRON CROWN. 


229 


of the outrage attempted. They soon discovered that much 
precious time had already been lost, for the Long party had 
industriously circulated their version of the trouble and were 
sure of a full attendance of their adherents at the miners’ 
meeting. They had spread far and wide such damaging re- 
ports of the Bismarck boys, and particularly Tom Norwell, that 
the more distant miners who knew nothing of the facts in the 
case, considered the latter an unprincipled jumper and an un- 
desirable character. The Stengels were generally known 
to be unreliable, and their zealous work in their own behalf 
amounted to little. 

The miners’ meeting was called for the following Sunday, 
which was about the only day on which this busy community 
could be got together. Such things were managed with true 
democratic simplicity. Every miner could speak on the 
question and the interested parties could not only plead their 
own case but cast their votes also. The Union convened in 
the Elk Mountain saloon, which was the most suitable place 
because there was plenty of room. It was furthermore a 
neutral ground, not under anybody’s influence, and perhaps, 
not least important, was the fact that liquid refreshments were 
at hand. These lubricated the wits of the rustler and set his 
judicial faculties in good running order. Texas Jack had ex- 
hibited a public spirit equal to the occasion by filling the bar 
room with seats made by placing rough boards on beer kegs. 
He had also at great expense, owing to the dispatch of a fast 
team for this special purpose, brought from the railway 
station of Dolorosa several kegs of fresh beer and a barrel or 
what purported to be old Kentucky whisky. 

On this important occasion Jack combined an affable man- 
ner with the dignity which befitted so important a personage. 
With far more respect for the peace and welfare of the public 
than men engaged in his business usually show, Texas Jack 
had not published the fact that a special cargo of liquids had 
arrived. His design was to spring this important announce- 
ment on an appreciative and thirsty public as a pleasant sur- 
prise, after the labors of the court were ended. 

The meeting was duly called to order by the chairman of 
the Union, about one hundred members being present. He 
briefly stated that the meeting had been called to decide the 
dispute between the rival claimants to the Bismarck lode. 
The Stengels were asked to give their statement as to the 
location. Herman Stengel rose and began: 


AN IRON CROWN. 


23O 

“ Gentlemen, dot Bismarck claim is mine, oont T can 
brove it.” 

“ It’s the facts in the case that we want, Mr. Stengel.” 

“ Well, last spring early me an’ Pob come ofer by King’s 
Ranch mit shnow shoes. Dot shnow was so deep by dot 
trail a mule could drown himself unter it.” 

“We want to know how you staked the Bismarck.” 

“ Mr. Chairman, I comes by dot shtake on te Bismarck 
right quick now. We carried in ofer our packs blankets, 
oont flour, oont picks, oont shofels, oont poolfer, — 

u But the Bismarck is what we want to hear about,” in- 
terrupted the persistent chairman. 

“ Gott in himmel, I don’t haf time to git to dot shtake yet 
till I gits into camp. _Pob oond me got here before dot 
shnow was melted till it was deeper als my head. We 
puilt a shanty py te basin, oond so help mine gott dere 
wasn’t more as twenty miners by te whole Ruby Buttes.” 

“ What time was that?” 

“Dot was by April tent. We first builded a shanty. 
Dot took tree days. Den I went pack to King’s Ranch for 
more flour.” 

“ Skip the flour. When did you set the Bismarck stake?” 
“ Wen I come pack from King’s Ranch Pob oont me 
went prospectin’ up ofer te mountain ver te shnow was 
eferyvere teep as a house roof. So we set dot Bismarck 
shtake yoost right in dot shnow.” 

“ On what date ?” 

“ Dot was bv der twentiet of Mai.” 

“ Did you see any other stakes there?” 

“ So help mine gott I didn’t.” 

Briggs was then called. 

“ When did you set your stake on the Bismarck?” 

“ I set a stake there May 20, and called the lead the 4 Lit- 
tle Annie’.” 

“ Did you see any other stake there?” 

“ I did not. There were no tracks on the snow, and no 
one had been there. Two weeks later I came along and 
found my stake thrown down the hill and the Bismarck 
stake set up.” 

“ Did you give up your claim then?” 

<c I did not like to pull up their stake, because it’s a peni- 
tentiary offense.” 

“ But you gave them no notice.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


231 


“ I always sort o’ considered it mine.” 

“ Did you do any work before your sixty days expired for 
beginning work?” 

“ I loosened some rocks the same day, but couldn’t do 
much with a pick.” 

In answer to a question from Dick Long, Bob Stengel ad- 
mitted that there was a mistake in Herman’s testimony, for 
they had not located the Bismarck till May 28. But the 
Germans stoutly denied having removed the Little Annie 
stake. Unfortunately, the stake, which had been examined 
by three reliable, disinterested men, was weather-beaten and 
gave every evidence of being genuine. The Long party 
brought men to testify that the digging constituted a legal be- 
ginning of work. The Bismarck brought equally reliable 
men to show that it did not. Others testified that Briggs 
had himself admitted that he had abandoned all claim to the 
Bismarck. One fact was proved beyond dispute. The 
Stengels had fraudulently removed Briggs’ stake, which was 
in itself a crime, and placed them in the light of jumpers. 
Jumping was a dangerous precedent. If countenanced it 
would put honest men at the mercy of roughs and despera- 
does. It could not be tolerated. This fact alone told strongly 
against the owners of the Bismarck. 

Finally, after all the interested parties and cViy others who 
wished to speak had been heard, the chairman Announced that 
a ballot would be taken if there were no further remarks. 
Then George Mack, who was known to be a bosom friend 
of Wilson’s, said he had a few words $0 add. Mack was a 
young man with a quick eye and a fejen expression of coun- 
tenance. He was a man who nevenengaged in disputes, and 
was evidently one not easily imposed on, and who could never 
be intimidated. He was a crack shot with the revolver, and 
could hit a spot the size of a silver dollar five out of six 
times at thirty paces. He. was also a warm friend of 
Texas Jack. Mack began 

“ Mr. Chairman and fellow miners of the Union, this is no 
common case we have mjet to try. It is not a case of out and 
out jumping. Other considerations appear. We should 
proceed with caution. There is no doubt that the Stengels 
fraudulently remove^* a stake and put theirs instead of it. 
That was a contemptible piece of work. But Norwell, Wil- 
son, DofFmeyer and Hackett had no part in that. They 
came to camp and took hold of the claim in good faith and 


2 3 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


made it worth something. Before they struck a good thing, 
nobody warned it. Briggs has admitted • that he had no 

further claims. These New Yorkers are honest men. Who 

% 

are their opponents? Why didn’t Long brothers set up 
Briggs’ claim at first? Didn’t they once lead a gang of 
jumpers in an attack on the Bismarck, when one man had an 
arm broken by a shot? Did they not set a fraudulent stake?” 
u That’s a lie,” muttered Dick Long. Mack’s face flushed, 
but he controlled himself and went on: 

“ Dick Long, this is no place for a private quarrel. We 
are trying to settle a dispute of public interest. Will you 
and your party stand up here and swear that the stake of the 
pretended Tooke lode was genuine? If it was, why didn’t 
you stay by it and die by it like honest men ?” 

u What do you mean by honest men?” blustered Dick. 
“ My character is about as good as yourn, I reckon.” 

“ If you bring yourself into a dispute like this your char- 
acter and motives must weigh against the character and mo- 

o o 

fives of the other side. But the less said about that the 
better. I knew you at Argenta, Dick Long.” 

“ Weli, what if you did!” growled Long, sullenly. The 
chairman now called both gentlemen to order, and told Mack 
he must conf' ne his remarks more closely to the case. 

u I have caly a few words more. That jumping case at 
the Bismarck cabin was an outrage. It never should have 
been allowed in this camp.” Here he was interrupted by 
growls of disapprobation from the Long party, who for some 
reason were nearly ai\ on one side of the room by themselves, 
facing the bar. “ I’m aware,” said Mack, deliberately look- 
ing at the other party, ‘y^hat it may be dangerous to express 
such opinions, but I am responsible, and you all know where 
to find me. Then there is that strange affair in which Mr. 
Wilson nearly lost his life in the shaft. We all know that 
he suffered more than death that night. Nobody may be to 
blame, but all I’ve got to sav^is it looks suspicious. Are 
we going to deprive square, honest men of their rights 
because others want to take what is^jiot their own? I think 
not. I appeal to the honor of this > pwd. I hope we may 
do the right thing.” Norwell and Wilson had agreed that 
Mack should plead their case so farvw anything beyond a 
mere question of dates and facts went. When, the speaker 
sat down there was apparently nothing more to be said. 

The case was now ready for this rather numerous popular 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 33 


jury of slouchy miners. The chairman explained that all 
who believed that the Long party, who were now in posses- 
sion of the Bismarck, under the title Little Annie, were en- 
titled to the claim, should vote “Yes.” All who favored the 
other party should vote “ No.” Bits of blank paper were 
distributed, and two miners passed around with hats collect- 
ing the ballots. Everybody was supposed to be entitled to 
vote, for the entire community was by virtue of residence in- 
terested in mining affairs. 

Ninety votes were cast, and the result was a tie. As the 
chairman had already voted in the capacity of a member, he 

was unable to cast the decisive vote. Then it was found 

• 

that Little Hackett had not voted. The poor sick boy had 
managed to walk down town to attend the trial. He had 
been obliged to take frequent rests and lean heavily on Nor- 
well for support. He was keenly interested in the result, 
for if it went against his party Mary’s fortune would melt 
away and he must die without the comfort of knowing that 
he had in any way assisted the loved ones whom he should 
never see again. He had sat intently listening to all that 
was said until the time came for a vote. His wasted features 
lighted with hope when he heard Mack’s short argument, 
which seemed to the boy thoroughly convincing. He little 
knew how hard it is to convince men who have already made 
up their minds to perpetrate or abet a wrong. Though 
Hackett had attained the years of manhood, he was still so 
thoroughly a child in thought and habit that it had not oc- 
curred to him that he was entitled to vote. 

Hackett’s vote would change the result. Dick Long 
made objection to his voting with a sneer about boys, and he 
“ reckoned dead men would be votin’ next.” This brutal al- 
lusion was met by such unqualified disapproval that Long 
quickly withdrew his objection. Hackett was interested in a 
claim, and was in consequence clearly entitled to vote. Then 
objection was made to the vote of Texas Jack. “ On what 
grounds do you object?” inquired that gentleman, with a 
dangerous expression in his quick, restless eyes. 

“ Because ye’re not a miner, or interested in any claims,” 
answered Dick Long. The chairman asked Jack to explain 
whether this were the case. “ No, gentlemen, I’m not a 
miner. I don’t own any interest in this camp. I did own 
half on one stake, but the cussed thing wasn’t worth any- 
thing, so I gave it away to a tenderfoot that I had a sort of 


2 34 


AN IRON CROWN. 


grudge against. I see men here voting though, who never 
swung a pick in their lives. They run stores in town and 
vote in the Miners’ Union because they’re 4 grub staking’ 
some fellow to tramp round the hills. I voted because I was 
one of the first comers here and I thought I had a right to 
— and because I wanted a square deal.” Nevertheless, it was 
the general opinion that Jack could not vote. Finally, 
Shorty rose to enlighten the meeting as to the custom in such 
cases in the San Tuan country. 

44 1 tell yer what it is boys, it’s not so much whether Jack 
kin vote or not, as whether jestice is goin’ to fall to the ground. 
If jestice falls to the ground we might as well close up the 
camp and quit, for no man’s claim’s goin’ to be wuth a cuss.” 
Shorty spoke of justice as if the allegorical female with the 
bandage on her eyes was wandering around the mountains in 
imminent peril of stumbling over a good-sized precipice. 
44 I’ve two claims in the San Joo-an that’s worth a hundred 
thousand apiece” — there was laughter and cries of, 44 Oh, give 
us a rest, Shorty,” with similar expressions of approval or dis- 
approval, according to the mood of the individual. 44 It’s a fact 
boys, and I’d give ’em both up freely, an’ not whine about it 
ether, ruther’n see jestice fall to the ground. Do you know, 
feller miners, what we did when the Jinkins gang tried to 
jump the Flapjack lode in the San Joo-an?” (Cries of, 44 No, 
let’s have it.”) 44 Waal, wejest ordered ’em to git off’n that 

claim, or, if they didn’t, we’d make ’em. Damn me if they 
wern’t sassy, and said we dassen’t touch ’em. But they 
missed their guess, for we das. Twenty-five of us went up to 
their cabin with rifies to reason with ’em, for we ’lowed to 
give ’em another chance. Bill Jinkins had a Sharpe’s rifle, 
Californy Jake had a double-bar’led shot-gun plumb-full o’ 
buckshot, an’ the rest of the outfit had nothin’ but Colt’s re- 
volvers. Waal, when a skunk gits under the house you’ve 
uther got to git him out or move the house. So as we 
couldn’t move the Flapjack mine we reckoned we’d have to 
move the skunks. They peppered us lively. One man 
dropped right in his tracks, and never as much as hollered, an’ 
two or three were grazed with bullets, but that never budged 
the course of jestice. We jist took out the hul outfit an’ 
strung ’em up in a row to the rafters of a vacant house. That 
was the slickest job ever I seed in twenty years’ prospectin’, 
Thar they hung as lovely as chickens in a huckster’s shop, 
feet all jist so far from the ground, fur we took a heap o’ pains 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 35 


with ’em. The Jinkins boys was at the head of the row an’ 
Californy Jake at the foot. Everybody thought Jake ’ud do 
better in life than to wind up at the foot, fur he was a49-er an’ 
desarved better things. Some of us thought he ought to be 
at the head of the line, but poor Jake was not in luck, an’ had 
to fall in at the foot. But he was a trump for all that. When 
we was ready to histe up the Jinkins boys the box that Bill 
stood on, he was fust, broke down, an’ the delay sort of wor- 
ried Bill till we give him a pull at a brandy flask. Then Cali- 
forny Jake spoke up, as he handed back a plug o’ tobacker he 
borryed o’ me, an’ says he: c Shorty, if you’ll run over to my 

cabin you’ll find a cut off’n a pine log that I use for a cheer. 
I reckon it’ll be about the thing.’ It was jist the thing, fur 
we worked off the hul six so there want a quarter of an inch 
difference in the height of their toes from the ground. We let 
’em hang all day fur we hated dreadful bad to spile sich a 
purty sight. People come fur miles to see ’em, an’ everybody 
’lowed it was the neatest thing ever done in the Territory, and 
purty nigh come up to the old times in Californy. 

“ Now, the pint I’m gittin’ at boys, is first, what oughter 
be done with jumpers? Second, what sort o’ men oughter 
vote? In the Flapjack case we had tenderfeet, capitalists, 
gamblers, an’ durn me, if the editor didn’t go ’long, though I 
reckon his motives wasn’t jest right, because he wanted the 
news fur his paper. But I tell yer when a man makes a 
squar deal, who has any right to ax his motives? Now, I 
claim a gambler is jest as good as the rest of us. I mean as a 
citizen, of course, and not from a church standpint. As long 
as he does the squar thing I’m willin’ to acknowledge him as 
an ekal.” Here Shorty stopped and looked at Texas Jack to 
see how the allusion was received. That worthy’s face was 
wreathed in smiles. The company was in high good humor, 
and willing to hear Shorty to the end, for he had as yet com- 
mitted himself distinctly to neither party in this great orator- 
ical effort, the greatest of his life. He mopped his copper-col- 
ored face on a greasy, red, flowered, cotton handkerchief, 
which he wore only on important occasions, and continued, 
amid cries of “ Go in, Shorty,” “ Don’t git off your lead,” 
“ That’s rich truck you’re sortin’ now,” etc., “ I hain’t much 
more truck to sort, boys, but it’ll run way up in the thousands. 
Here’s Texas Jack is a good citizen of this place. He’s a 
nateral gentleman. He deals his cards squar, an’ has only four 
aces in a pack. He keeps good whisky, too, though twenty- 


236 


AN IRON CROWN. 


five cents is a leetle steep for a drink, ’cordin’ to my tell. But 
he can’t help that. He goes by the market. He sets out big 
glasses, none of yer cussed little thimble affairs, an’ (here 
Shorty lowered his voice for his crowning argument) he looks 
tother way when a feller’s fillin’ up. Now, I call that the 
mark of a nateral gentleman. It’s a shame to keep such a 
man from votin.’ He ought ter be allowed to vote unani- 
mous.” 

Shorty had now squarely committed himself. He was 
against the Long party, and moreover, by implication advo- 
cated hanging them. At once there was a commotion, during 
which Shorty sat down. 

After some discussion, the question of Texas Jack’s right 
to vote was put, and by a good majority was decided adverse- 
ly, on the ground that he was clearly not a miner. If Hack- 
ett voted and Texas Jack did not, there would still be a tie. 
It was noticed that the ringleaders of the Long party kept 
their eyes fastened on the door continually. This was now 
explained, as was their patience at Shorty’s rambling speech. 
One of the Long party who had two hours before been sent 
out hurriedly to bring in two absentees, now returned with 
the men. Dick Long demanded another vote, which was 
taken. Two or three weak-kneed individuals who feared the 
Longs and Tooke’s influence, changed sides, and the vote 
showed a majority of five against the Bismarck party. When 
the result was announced by the chair, Dick Long jumped on 
a seat and cried out in triumph, u Who’s going to take your 
San Juan medicine now, Shorty?” 

“ Dick Long, don’t you crow. Many a rooster has crowed 
jist afore his neck was wrung.” 

u What do you mean by that, you old blackguard?” 

u Look here, Dick Long, you’d better keep a civil tongue 
in your head. You an’ your party here won this ’ere case, 
though I don’t see no sort of jestice in it. Jestice has fell to 
the ground, ’cordin’ to my idee. Her lead seems to be sort o’ 
pinchin’ out in this camp, and fetchin’ up in an all-fired mean 
horse o’ country rock, but some of us boys is goin’ to lay low 
and watch her, an’ see if she don’t come in agin’ a thousand 
dollars to the ton, an’ six feet wide.” 

“ Shorty, if your word was worth a cent you’d git into 
trouble,” growled the ruffian, who still carried his arm in a 
sling from the effects of the ball received at the attack on the 
Bismarck. “ It’s a good thing for you that nobody pays any 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 37 


attention to yer lyin’ an’ braggin’.” The miners now quietly 
took sides, for everybody saw that the Long party were ripe 
for a row. 

“ I reckon I don’t always tell the exact truth to a notch,” 
answered Shorty, slowly. “ But it ain’t expected of a man 
who’s rustled all his life, fur it’s his way, an’ he don’t know 
when he is lyin’. Sometimes men who wear a biled shirt 
don’t hit the bull’s-eye every shot when truth’s consarned. 
But I jist want to say this one thing,” — here Shorty drew up 
his heavy-set frame a trifle, with a look of determination that 
was surprisingly at variance with his ordinary easy manner, 
— “when this camp wants Dick Long an’ his gang to run it, 
the camp’ll notify ’em. An’ I’ll say besides to Mister Dick 
Long an’ the rest of his jumpers, that I’ve seed many a dan- 
gerouser man buried with his boots on, an’ I’ve helped to 
hang better men.” 

“You old villain, I won’t be abused any longer,” ex- 
claimed Dick Long, as he drew a heavy “44.” But Shorty 
had not rustled twenty years in vain. His stubby old pistol, 
a counterpart of himself, appeared from his hip pocket in a 
twinkling, and the muzzle of the ugly weapon was danger- 
ously close to Long’s nose. That gentleman had calculated 
on getting the drop, but was not quick enough. A score of 
weapons were drawn instantly, and the ominous click, click, 
click of their hammers was heard on every side. Texas Jack, 
seizing the revolver from the shelf, cleared the bar at a bound, 
exclaiming: 

“ Gents, I guess a man can take part in a row in his own 
place, if he can’t vote. This thing has gone far enough.” 
Then addressing Dick Long, he said with an air that ad- 
mitted of no doubt concerning his intentions: “ I’ll kill the 

first man that shoots. I’ll have no row here.” 

“ Let’s clean out his old place,” said some one in the rear. 
Here Hackett, to the surprise of everybody, rose and rushed 
between the two files of scowling, threatening men. 

“ Mr. Jack, please don’t shoot.” The boy was fairly 
trembling with excitement, and for the space of half a minute 
could not utter a single word. He seemed totally oblivious 
to fear, in fact, unconscious of danger. Then collecting his 
thoughts, he began slowly: “ It’s an awful thing to take hu- 

man life. I wouldn’t do it for all the silver in the world. I 
was part owner in the Bismarck, but I don’t want it if blood 
has to be shed. And I don’t want it if it isn’t ours honestly* 


238 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Mr. Tom,” he said, appealing to Norwell, whom, in spite 
of the events of the day, he evidently considered the most 
important personage present, “don’t have any row. If the 
claim isn’t ours we don’t want it. I counted on it a good deal 
because it would give Mary enough so she wouldn’t have to 
work. But that isn’t to be. I suppose,” he continued sadly, 
“she can work just as she always has. For my part, I’ll 
never need it. I’d like it for Mary’s sake, but I shouldn’t 
feel easy if it was blood money.” The leveled pistols 
dropped one by one, and a dead silence prevailed. “ Mr. Tom, 
give it up. There are plenty more claims somewhere else. 
There’s no use fighting, and struggling and doing wrong for 
a little money that may be we couldn’t use right if we had it. 
The strong get the money and the weak have to do without 
it. But if there’s no reckoning in this world there is in the 
next, and riches wont count there. Dick Long, maybe your 
side is right. Any way, you’ve got the Bismarck and you’re 
welcome to Mary’s share. I won’t say I think you cheated 
us, because I don’t see how forty or fifty men could find it in 
their hearts to cheat an orphan girl who has had to work for 
her living. So I guess your case must be right, if I don’t see 
it that way. Anyhow if it isn’t, God will make it all right 
sometime, and Mary can afford to wait. Now, Mr. Jack, 
please don’t make any fuss.” 

There was a dead silence in the room, for Little Hackett 
spoke as if with the voice of inspiration. After a brief pause, 
during which the last pistol disappeared, Jack said kindly: 

‘ No, Hackett, there’ll be no row here to-day.” 

The miners filed out, one by one, expressing in low tones 
their sympathy for Hackett, and regretting the unfortunate 
turn affairs had taken. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE DEATH OF LITTLE HACKETT. 

The decision in the Bismarck case was strictly legal, and 
was acquiesced in, though there were many expressions of 
doubt as to its fairness. Like many decisions of higher 
courts it was thought to represent law rather than justice. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 39 

There were in particular many expressions of sympathy with 
Hackett and his sister. Had his case been fully understood 
it doubtless would have changed the result. There was 
scarcely a man in camp who would not do anything in his 
power to alleviate the sufferings of the sick boy, who was now 
unable to leave his bed at the cabin by the lake. Norwell 
and Wilson wished to take him down to the town where h£ 
could be made more comfortable, but he steadily refused. He 
loved the sublime scenery of the mountain. His bed was 
placed so he could get the warm noonday sun and look out at 
the flitting butterflies, the sleepy camp-robbers that hung 
around the cabin, and the beautiful fresh bluebells whose tinv 
cups dangled in profusion from graceful stems. Beyond rose 
the grand old peak far into the mysterious sky. 

The party had no regular work. Tom spent nearly all 
his time at the cabin looking after Little Hackett. He tried 
to be cheerful as he used to be for the sake of the poor in- 
valid. But his nature had lost its spontaneous sunshine. He 
keenly felt the wrong that had deprived him of a valuable 
property. His heart was set on making money. Money he 
must have by some means, or life would prove a miserable 
failure. He could never be satisfied with poverty. It was in 
opposition to all his notions of usefulness and enjoyment in 
life. It might do for those who were satisfied with it, but he 
rebelled utterly at the thought of grubbing each day for mere 
food and clothing. Better not exist at all. With Hackett’s 
consent, Norwell wrote to Mary that her brother had not 
long to live. It was sad news to break to the anxious ones 
at home, but Tom had previously written Mary that the cli- 
mate did not seem to agree with John, and that his health was 
not at all good. Then it occurred to him to write to Miss 
Ingledee, and ask her for old acquaintance sake to be kind to 
the bereaved ones. Now, when he thought of the subject, 
he wondered that he had not written to her sooner. Their 
acquaintance was of such long standing and had been so in- 
timate, that it seemed almost as natural to write to her as to 
his sister Alice. But he had left New York with a feeling 
almost of hatred toward the place and its associations. Now, 
since his brief dream of silver was over, his thoughts re- 
turned more pleasantly to old friends and old associations. 

Wilson and the Expert having nothing else to do went 
prospecting daily. There were still rumors that the Bismarck 
was not surveyed on its lead. The change of owners had not 


240 


AN IRON CROWN 


succeeded in quieting these rumors. There was also another 
claim on the hill, called the u Silver Star,” running parallel 
with the Bismarck. This claim had recently “struck it rich,” 
and miners were flocking to see its rich ore. An Eastern 
capitalist had offered two hundred thousand dollars for the 
Silver Star and the Bismarck together, though neither had 
yet shipped any ore. A mill run from each, had, however, 
shown ore of a very high grade. Now, by a strange coinci- 
dence, the Silver Star was reported to be off its lead in a man- 
ner similar to the Bismarck. The owners of an adjoining 
worthless claim were industriously digging the woods full of 
ditches trying to discover the rich vein of their neighbors, 
but they had not succeeded as yet. 

One day Bob Stengel came to Norwell at the cabin 
when only himself and Hackett were present, and had a very 
important communication to make. In an opposite direction 
from that of the men who were prospecting, on a narrow slip 
of vacant ground he thought he had discovered the Silver 
Star lode. Meantime the owners of that claim were .about 
to change their survey to the direction in which their vein 
really ran. This bit of information was obtained by eaves- 
dropping. A new stake set on this vacant ground would 
hold a large part of their lead. Bob was enthusiastic. He 
and his brother would have set a stake at once had they not 
been afraid to do so alone. 

“ Mr. Norwell, dot’s te piggest pisness in te whole camp. 
I’d shtake it all mineself mit Herman, but mine gott! it takes 
a toozen men to hold on mit a claim in dis camp. You oont 
Mr. Wilson come in oont we yoost got four mans. Dot’s bet- 
ter tan me oont Herman.” Norwell listened with interest. 
Here was a chance to recover lost ground. If mining was a 
grab game, why not grab with the others? 

“ Stengel, are you sure it is a good thing? ” 

“ Well I should say so. Wy dot lode bin as wide as dis 
cabin, oont ruby silver in it yoost the size like plums.” 

“ And you think it is the Silver Star?” 

“Ya!” 

“ Are you sure the ground is vacant? ” 

“ Herman oont me sighted it mit a shtick,” 

“ I’ll go over and look at it.” Hackett had been listening 
to every word of this conversation with keen interest. He 
said : 

u Mr. Tom, look at it carefully.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


24I 


u Why, Hackett?” 

u Because, if it’s the Silver Star lode it don’t ’pear fair to 
take it just because they made a mistake in their survey.” 
Norwell reflected a moment in silence, then said, though it 
cost an effort: 

“ No, Stengel, I’ll not do it. The Silver Star boys are 
good fellows. They’ve worked hard on their claim. Let 
them change their survey and take what rightfully belongs to 
them.” 

Stengel could neither understand nor appreciate such hon- 
esty in the face of sore temptation. He came to Norwell 
and Wilson because lie could rely upon them. A dozen men 
could easily be found to join for the asking. He stood amazed, 
and acted as if he had not fully understood Tom’s answer. 

“ Oont you wasn’t goin’ in mit me oont Herman?” 
Stengel, it isn’t square. I can’t do it.” 

“ Not shquare!” said Bob, in astonishment. “ Mine gott! 
Dot peats anything I efer heard in my life. I comes to you 
yoost to gif you a goot ting oont you kicks it right flat ofer. 
Tom Norwell, you are te piggest fool in camp. You’ll nefer 
make a shtrike,” saying which Mr. Bob Stengel left the 
cabin pitying the man who engaged in the mining business 
without first getting rid of his conscience, if he chanced to 
possess any such inconvenient furniture. 

The excitement of that scene in the Elk Mountain saloon 
had completely unnerved Little Hackett, and he rapidly sank 
till he was unable longer to leave his bed. He lay by the 
cabin door, and Tom Norwell, who never left him now, sat 
on a spruce block by the bedside, and read to the dying boy 
or talked about the friends in New York. A letter had been 
received from Mary, in the tear-blurred pages of which she 
resigned herself to the great sorrow which had cast its shadow 
before, and which was many fold greater because the poor 
sick boy must die far away in the mountains without the min- 
istering hands of kindred, and without the tender care of 
woman. Two or three of the women in camp had called 
several times to see the invalid, but as it was a long, tiresome 
walk from the village up to the cabin by the lake, anything 
like regular attendance or watching must be left to his part- 
ners. Hackett still refused to be moved down to the town. 
He had become attached to the scenerv, and he could there 
enjoy the bright sunlight and the beautiful flowers. 

The boy’s face became so thin that it was painful to look 

16 


242 


AN IRON CROWN. 


upon. His sunken eyes shone with brilliancy, and a hectic 
flush at times tinged the pallid countenance. He was literally 
wearing out without any special disease, or rather he was 
burning out in this stimulating, electrical atmosphere. His 
heart beat irregularly, and at times threatened to suffocate him 
by its throbbing. Mary wrote every day, but owing to the 
uncertainty of the mails in this remote region, the letters some- 
times came two or three in one day, with corresponding inter- 
vals without any. Tom was glad to see that the resigned 
Christian spirit of Mary’s letters cheered the last moments of 
the dying boy, who had feared at first that she might take it 
very hard. He had asked Tom to write, saying it made little 
difference where one died, the only question of moment was 
how. Aunt Rhoda was less resigned, and still insisted on 
prescribing heroic remedies suited to the robust frame of a man 
taken with a temporary attack of sickness. Tom’s reply was 
always that everything was being done which medical skill 
could accomplish. This was strictly and pathetically true, for 
the only physician in the place had said from the start that 
nothing could be done except to make as easy as possible the 
short path to the grave. 

Daily the sun swung above the rounded dome of Mount 
Carbon to the east, and poured a flood of light into the valleys 
and along the hillsides beyond. Daily, the little brook that 
gurgled deep among the bluebells diminished in volume as 
the dry season advanced. Its' life, too, was fast nearing the 
end. Day by day the great snow- field on the big peak in the 
west grew less and less till now at this distance it seemed no 
larger than a garden spot, though really covering several 
acres. Daily the canary-colored butterflies flitted in the sun 
or perched on the rosin-scented foliage. Every day the 
sleepy camp-robber, which had now become Hackett’s con- 
stant companion, sat on a limb patiently waiting the chance 
to steal a biscuit or forage in the stewed peaches. He never 
uttered a note. He was a fitting witness of the solemn scene 
about to be enacted. The ubiquitous little chipmunks skurried 
hastily along the dry logs, or squatted on their hind legs to take 
observations. No one disturbed them, and they, too, were 
silent. 

One day as Norwell, Wilson and Doffmeyer finished their 
dinner, Hackett spoke to Norwell in a feeble voice: 

“Mr, Tom ” 

u What is it, Johnnie?” 


AN IRON CROWN. 243 

“ Maybe the boys had better not go prospecting this after- 
noon.” Tom gave Wilson a meaning look, and replied: 

“ They’ll not go if you wish it, Hackett.” 

“ It’s lonesome here, sometimes. I’ll not ask them to stay 
in often.” 

“Hackett,” said Wilson, “ DofFmeyer and I will stay 
round the cabin to-day, and get some wood. We’ll be in and 
out all day. We’ll not go any more if you are lonesome.” 

A smile lit up the wasted features of the dying boy, who 
felt he had all the time been a burden on these men, and yet 
had received nothing but kindness from them. DofFmeyer 
sat down by the bedside, and tried to tell Hackett how they 
mined for gold in the Black Hills. His stories had always 
interested the boy, but in the middle of it he found that Hack- 
ett was not listening, or even cognizant of his presence. He 
rose and walked outside, with the silent, measured step that 
befits the house of death. Presently Hackett opened his eyes 
and asked: 

“ Mr. Tom, do you think Mary is at work in the bindery 
to-day ?” 

“ Yes, I think she is.” 

“ She wouldn’t work if she knew.” 

“The work doesn’t make any difference, Blackett,” said 
Norwell, in a tremulous tone, while he strove to appear calm. 

“ No, she’s thinking of me, any way.” There was a pause, 
in which the only audible sound was a faint gurgling from the 
brook a few rods away. This seemed to catch Hackett’s ear, 
and he continued : “ Is the snow all gone from the peaks, 

yet?” 

“ From all but the big peak. There’s some there yet.” 
“I’d like to go up and get some — I’d like to say I tasted 
snow in August.” 

“The boys will go and get you some.” 

“ No, it wouldn’t be so nice if I didn’t get it myself.” 
There was a brief pause, then he went on with an effort: 
“Mr. Tom, please look if my water-wheel is running yet out 
by that tall spruce.” Tom Norwell went outside to see if the 
wheel was going. He called in Wilson and DofFmeyer. 

“ Yes, it’s still going, Johnnie.” 

“ I never thought it would last longer than I did,” he re- 
plied, with a faint smile. “Did you, Mr. Tom?” 

Not a word was said in answer, as the three strong men 
stood with bowed heads and moistened eyes. Suddenly a 


244 


AN IRON CROWN. 


dull, heavy “boom” rang out on the hillside, and echoing 
among the mountains, came back from the other side of the 
gulch. Little Hackett tried to raise his head. Tom instantly 
raised it till he could look out of the cabin door. The sick 
boy feebly inquired: 

“ Is that in the Bismarck ?” then settled back on his blan- 
ket pillow. 

“ Yes. They’re working it day and night.” 

“ Mr. Tom, don’t you and the boys worry about the Bis- 
marck. I was sorry for the boys — and for Mary — I didn’t 
see why the innocent should lose all they had. But it’s all 
right. It came to me since as clear as day that God hadn’t 
intended us to have the Bismarck at all, or else he took it 
away from us because we got too proud.” There was a 
pause as the invalid rested from his exertion of speaking. 
Then he went on: “But He’ll give you all something bet- 
ter than the Bismarck if you only wait,” — and he added in a 
low, solemn voice — “ Mr. Tom, don’t worry. Give Him 
time and He’ll do the fair thing.” Tom replied with as much 
sincerity as he could assume: 

“ Why, I don’t care a straw about the Bismarck, neither 
do the boys.” 

“ I don’t. I did at first, but now it seems to me somehow 
as if I had struck it rich at last. I feel so happy.” Another 
pause. Tears were now coursing down more than one 
bronzed cheek. “ Mr. Tom, it was good of you to bring me 
here.” 

“ That is not worth speaking of.” 

“Yes, it is. I always wanted to travel. If Mary could 
only see these grand mountains I’d be still happier.” Hack- 
ett, nearly exhausted by his great efforts, sank in a brief slum- 
ber, or rather into a condition of unconsciousness resembling 
sleep. Still the three men stood motionless and silent. The 
end was near at hand, for a clammy sweat was gathering on 
the pinched nose and colorless ears. Finally, Hackett roused 
himself and tried to speak. Norwell leaned over and caught 
the almost inarticulate words: 

“ Mr. Tom, remember Mary and Aunt Rhoda. They’ll 
be lonesome. Will you go to see them sometimes?” 

“ Yes, yes, Hackett, I will.” 

“ Tell them I was happy — is it getting dark?” 

“ No, the sun is just going over the mountain.” 

“ Then it will be light on the other side when I get there — 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 45 


Wilson — DofFmeyer.” They came closer and leaned over 

him. “ Don’t fret over the Bismarck. You will strike it 
sometime.” The dying boy sank back exhausted, and again 
the only sound was that of the brook. Presently he roused 
himself and said so low that his voice was scarcely audible: 
u Is the camp-robber still there on the tree?” 
u Yes, he is sitting on the old stump.” 
u Please don’t let the boys hurt him.” 

“ We’ll be kind to him.” 

“ It was good of him to sit in the tree where I could see 
him. Now, I’m going. I’m not tired any more. Do you 
see that big mountain, boys, right off there? There’s a big 
lead running right up to the top of it.” The eyes grew 
fixed and filmy. Tom felt the pulse, which was now 

scarcely perceptible, and then laid the wasted hand mechani- 
cally on the blanket. “ It’s a good lead. Every rock 
sparkles with pure gold,” came in a whisper. A look of 
complete happiness settled over the features. The breath no 
longer came in gasps, but with longer inspirations and inter- 
vals which looked like death. The men waited the end in 
silence. Again the lips parted : 

“I’m going to claim it — tell Mary.” The breathing 
ceased. The features settled into a calm repose. The spirit 
of Little Hackett had followed that golden lead over the 
range into that mysterious country unexplored by man, 
whence no prospector ever returns. 

Norwell and Wilson set about performing the last rites of 
the dead. A letter was written to Mary, and DofFmeyer 
was to take it to the postoffice and inform the people of the 
town. As no coffin could be obtained, a carpenter was em- 
ployed to make one out of spruce lumber. Hackett had 
been a general favorite, and it was decided on all hands that 
he should have a proper funeral. As there was no minister 
nearer than twenty or thirty miles, and as he might hesitate 
about such along tiresome journey over mountain roads to at- 
tend a funeral, it was decided to dispense with his services. 
Texas Jack was the best educated man in the community, and 
as one miner expressed it, u could read better nor any parson.” 
But from the nature of his calling there was a manifest im- 
propriety in his conducting the services, even if he could be 
prevailed upon to do so. It was unanimously agreed that, 
while his reading would do anywhere, his prayer wouldn’t 
assay high enough. Praying men of any sort were exceed- 


246 


AN IKON CROWN. 


ingly scarce, and men who could pray in public were not 
known to exist, though it is impossible to tell what may be 
discovered by sifting the motley material of a new mining 
camp. You may discover a poet, whose thoughts wander 
among iambics while his tired arms swing the sledge to the 
monotonous clink of the drill. His partner, who keeps al- 
ternate stroke, may have been a cowboy from the great plains 
of Texas, while the man at the drill, spattered with mud 
from head to foot, may have once measured silks and laces 
over the counter for fine ladies. The genius in greasy brown 
duck who presides at the windlass and casts a feverish, eager 
eye on the ore as it slowly rises into the light to catch a 
glimpse of ruby or brittle silver, or sulphurets, may have 
been a theological student, who once aspired to raise souls, 
by a spiritual windlass, from away down at the three-thou- 
sand-foot level of sin up to the broad platform of salvation. 
A committee waited on Texas Jack to consult about the 
funeral and see if he had any suggestions to offer. Secretly 
they nourished the ulterior motive of asking Jack to read a 
chapter. If they failed in the matter of prayer reading 
would be better than nothing, and express the sympathies of 
the miners as well as the elaborate and doubtful “ funeral 
sermon” of older communities. 

“ You see, Jack,” said the chairman, “ we oughter try’n 
get up a boss funeral for Little Hackett. I reckon he de- 
serves it better’n any man who ever sot foot in camp.” 

“ Yes, we must do the square thing by Hackett,” said 
Jack, reflectively. 

“But how? that’s the pint. There hain’t no preacher short 
o’ Dolorosa, an’ they say he works on his own claim all week 
an’ sort o’ sinks a salvation shaft among sinners on Sunday.'' 
I reckon it’s hardly a fair shake to ask him to come so far.” 
“ We’ll make him up a purse if that’s all.” 

“ Yes, that’s easy anuff, but I’ve heerd he’s desprit busy, 
an’ then his pard couldn’t do much while he was gone. The 
season’s gittin’ late, an’ it’s no fool of a job sinkin’ a shaft in 
the snow. I reckon we needn’t try to work that lead.” 
Then there was a pause, and the speaker continued, “Jack, 
I’ve got an idee.” He waited for Jack’s approval before dis- 
closing the nature of his idee which, from his manner, was 
evidently of importance. 

“ Well ?” 

“Do it yourself, Jack,” he said, leaning forward over the 
counter confidentially. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 47 


“Oh, h — 1!” Jack laughed heartily at the idea of his of- 
ficiating as minister at a funeral. Then his manner suddenly 
changed and he assumed a look of dignity which well became 
his handsome person and said: “ See here, this is no subject 

for jesting. What do you mean by it?” 

“Jack, I wasn’t jokin’, pon honor I wasn’t. You know 
you’ve the best larnin in camp.” 

“ But I’m only a saloon keeper and a gambler. No, it 
wouldn’t look respectful, and besides,” he added with sudden 
energy, “ d — n it I tell you I can’t pray.” After this con- 
vincing argument, there was no need to discuss longer that 
part of the programme which referred to prayer. But the 
miner stuck to his point. 

“As fur gamblin’ 1 reckon that isn’t right, but jest sposin’ 
a man’s bad, as I reckon we three all be beyont a doubt, sposin’ 
I say, a bad man does a good turn, I reckon the Lord ain’t 
goin’ to kick him fur it. We’re in a pinch in this camp; an’ 
I ’low when a man’s in a pinch the Lord’ll figger the chances 
he had alongside o’ what he did. See here, Jack, I ’spose, 
considerin’, it’s best to cut the prayer, but we thought you 
could read a sam anyway, fur we know you kin read beauti- 
ful.” Jack stood silent for a moment. 

“ I’ll do it if it is the wish of the camp.” 

“We knowed you were open to reason, Jack,” said the 
spokesman, with a laugh that hardly comported with the 
solemnity of his errand. “We knowed you wouldn’t go back 
on the camp because it was in a pinch.” 

In this cosmopolitan community, where democratic prin- 
ciples reigned supreme, it might be supposed that there would 
be little trouble in finding an active Christian who could per- 
form, after a fashion at least, the funeral lites of the dead. 
But true Christianity is a flower of sweet perfume and modest 
growth. Professing Christians were few in camp, and of 
these few, none had the confidence in themselves required to 
come forward and volunteer their services on this occasion. 
After a few moments’ reflection Jack broke the silence: 

“ Boys, I know a man who can pray. Old Jim Gurley.” 

“Jim Gurley a prayin’ man! well, I’ll be .” The 

miner stopped suddenly and most reverently, for he recollected 
that it was almost sacrilege to swear pending the obsequies 
of the dead boy. 

“ Why Jack, that idee struck me as sudden as a giant cap 
bustin’. Ain’t you mistaken about Jim Gurley? Why the old 


248 


AN IRON CROWN. 


cuss!” The chairman started. This time he had come 
pretty near swearing. 

“ No, I’ve heard him praying in his tent.” 

“ Then I’ll tell you how we’ll fix it, you’ll read a sam an’ 
we’ll git Jim Gurley to offer prars.” 

“Don’t you think he could read too?” said Jack, who 
only consented to read at all under a strong sense of respect 
to the memory of Hackett in this case of necessity. But the 
committee would not excuse Jack till they got Gurley. They 
went to Gmley and with much persuasion induced him to 
consent to pray. He was an illiterate East Tennessean, hut 
a devout Christian, and ready to follow duty when she beck- 
oned him to untried paths. 

“ I’m not much on prar,” he said, “ but I ’low I kin 
scrouge through somehow.” 

Everything was ready for the funeral; the corpse having 
been packed down the mountain on a donkey, was lying in 
the hotel. The procession started from there, and the whole 
town turned out. The rough miners filed by in silence to 
take a last look at the wasted features of the dead, the women 
of the place mingling with the .men around the bier. Be- 
side the coffin was placed a cross made of the sweet wild 
flowers which Hackett had loved so well. Four stalwart 
miners who, by the simple process of stripping off their 
brown overalls and coats, had appeared in their Sunday 
clothes, acted as pall bearers. Slowly and solemnly this 
procession of rough men, two by two, passed down the rocky 
street, across the little creek, and up the sloping point where 
the grave had been dug beside Ward’s, under the shadow of 
the great spruces that bordered the little park. Norwell and 
Wilson walked first behind the coffin as 'chief mourners. 
Then came Texas Jack and Jim Gurley. As the coffin was 
lowered into this lonely grave on the mountain side, though 
a community reverently paid its respects to the dead, there 
were no tears except from Tom Norwell. There were no kin- 
dred present, no despairing sobs of bereaved relatives. The 
respect of the stranger was genuine, but the real mourners 
were two lonely women in a distant city. In a slow, 
labored manner Gurley read the comforting words of the 
twenty-third Psalm. His earnest prayer was short, rude, 
and fervent: 

“ Oh, Lord, we have met to burry one who was but yister- 
day our brother. Let them that’s left be reminded that life 


AN IRON CROWN. 


249 


is short, an’ there are a thousand ways leadin’ to sin, but only 
one little narrer lead to glory. Lord, thou knows better than 
all us our sins an’ shortcomins’. Thou reads us like plain 
print, an’ knows that we’re mean an’ ornery, an’ not fit to live 
another minnit if jestice was done. But don’t be too hard on 
us. Let the Spirit rastle with us a little longer,- and make us 
strong to resist Satin, who tempts us from bad to wuss day 
an’ night. Make us strong to resist him, for he’s scrougin’ us 
inch by inch toward the awful cliff that stands over the burnin’ 
lake. Oh, Lord, if it is thy will, let Satin be confounded and 
confused. Let thy grace shine onto these poor miserable 
worms that are diggin’ the arth for silver an’ neglectin’ their 
immortal souls. ’Sposen we strike it rich here an’ have no 
stake sot over thar. A stake over thar’s what we want, 
where no jumper can come anigh, an’ every nugget is simon 
pure gold. Let the one who has gone afore us be an ex- 
ample of good deeds. May we foller in his footsteps. Oh, 
Lord, don’t forgit his poor folks in their loss, an’ don’t forgit 
all us poor miserable worms that have been workin’ our own 
claims, an’ lettin’ yourn go without even assessment. W e 
know we’re mean and ornery, an’ no ’count, so we leave all 
to thy overshadderin’ mercy. Don’t let us go on till our vein 
pinches clear out in a seam of sin at the place where there’s 
weepin’ and wailin’, but save us before it is forever too late, 
an’ thine be the glory.” 

Two young men, who happened to be able to sing, sang 
the “ Sweet By-and-By,” and the assemblage dispersed. One 
more person, who had come to this land of gold and silver, 
seeking the riches of earth, had passed to that resting place 
where the pauper sleeps as sweetly as the millionaire. The 
funeral was over, the last rites of respect had been performed 
in the best manner possible, the miners scattered to their 
claims, and soon the hills again resounded as before, with the 
heavy reports of exploding dynamite. Life is so busy that it 
has scarcely time for death, as the ages crowd into eternity. 


/ 


/ 


CHAPTER XXV. 

THE BIG STRIKE ON THE AMAZON. 

After the funeral no prospecting was clone by Norwell 
and Wilson for several days. They were apathetic and dis- 
couraged. 

“ It’s no use wasting time in this country,” said Norwell 
one morning. u There are men who understand the business 
better than we do. For my part, I wouldn’t tramp these hills 
ten years as some have done, eating bacon, and sleeping in 
the dirt, for all the gold and silver in the State. ' Those who 
want riches at that price are welcome to them for me. A man 
without capital stands little show except through a great streak 
of luck. If he gets a good thing he can’t work it, and some 
capitalist freezes him out. I’ve been a rich man myself, and 
then I never thought of such things, but when I see how such 
men as Ophir and Tooke can employ their millions to ruin 
honest men regardless of law or right, it makes my blood 
boil. It is an outrage and a disgrace to our country.” 

“ But what can one man do to prevent it?” 

“ That is just the trouble. The people as yet don’t seem 
to care a straw about it. I’ll try to stand it if they can. I’ll 
tell you what I mean to do. I shall by some means make 
another fortune.” 

“ Do you consider money everything, Tom?” 
u As money, I don’t. No man can use a million profitably 
on himself and family. But the present generation has 
chosen money as their god. They hold the possession of 
wealth above purity of character, refinement, and intellectual 
attainments. About the only question asked before a stranger 
is admitted into society in most places is, ‘ What is he worth?’ 
The size of his pile measures his importance.” 

“ This condition of society will improve with better oppor- 
tunities of culture.” 

“ No doubt a future generation will consider our standard 
of desirable attainment a false one. But, Arthur, I do not 
expect to associate with future generations. ' My lot is cast 

(250) 


AN IRON CROWN. 25 1 

with this one. I shall do as they do, and be on top of the 
heap or nowhere.” 

Suddenly they thought of the big lead they had staked 
across the opposite mountain. In the excitement attendant 
on the Bismarck trial they had completely forgotten this 
claim. They decided at once to go and see it. After a tramp 
of three miles they came to the place. The immense vein 
was distinctly visible far up the mountain side like a great rib 
of stone. They had learned much about ores since setting 
that stake several weeks before. Doffmeyer carefully ex- 
amined the black heavy quartz. After a brief scrutiny of the 
rock they unanimously decided that it contained nothing but 
iron. With intense disgust they trudged back to camp in 
silence. 

Norwell now notified Doffmeyer that their partnership 
would cease at once, greatly to the consternation of the Expert, 
who found Colorado life very easy, board and lodging found. 
After dinner they went to the postoffice. There Norwell 
found a letter, which gave him a great and most welcome 
surprise. 

“ Arthur, I have good news. A relative from whom I 
never expected a cent has left Alice and me each twenty-five 
thousand dollars.” 

“ That’s better than an iron mine in the mountains,” said 
Wilson, laughing. 

“ I should say so. I’ll soon be on my legs again. I think 
I shall go East at once.” 

“ I’ve something of interest, too, Tom.” 

“ What is it?” 

“ A letter from May Bryce.” 

“ What, another! Now, don’t deny it any longer, 
Arthur.” 

“ I still deny. She is going to New York, too.” 

46 The deuce you say!” exclaimed Tom in surprise. 

44 Yes, and she wants a letter of introduction to your 
sister.” 

“ That’s a good idea, Arthur, and you must write it at 
once. Drop a line to Alice, too, asking her to show May 
around.” Wilson thought the latter suggestion an agreeable 
one also, but his more cautious nature seldom betrayed his 
feelings. Tom proposed going over to the Ruby House at 
once, so that Wilson could write the letters in time for that 
day’s mail. Wilson sat down in the bar-room of the hotel 


252 


AN IRON CROWN. 


at the long pine table and wrote, while Tom chatted with the 
miners loafing there. Still Wilson wrote, till Tom grew im- 
patient. One of the letters seemed of pretty good length. 
Tom remarked that it must be rather extended for a letter of 
introduction, but Wilson, laughing in reply, merely assented 
without any comment at all. 

Tom decided to leave camp on the second day following. 
As Doffmeyer was to leave the cabin, Wilson must find a 
partner. He went to George Mack, and the latter, who had 
been his most intimate acquaintance in camp, agreed to move 
into the cabin in Nor well’s place. Together they would 
prospect till snow fell. 

The time for departure came. Norwell had all his effects 
rolled up in a blanket, which was securely bound with rope. 
The swinging, dusty old stage-coach drove up to the Ruby 
House. That vehicle looked in shape not unlike- the rounded 
hull of a quaint old ship of the Middle Ages. It seemed to be 
hung on springs all over, and rounding a dangerous curve it 
often lurched toward the precipice in a way that made the 
tenderfoot cling to the other side in terror. A few friends 
and others were standing around to see Tom off. There was 
some handshaking, and a few hearty, picturesque expressions 
such as, a Tired of rustlin’, eh?” Then Tom Norwell took 
his seat in the stage beside a “capitalist,” the driver came out 
of the bar wiping his lips, mounted the box beside the mail 
sack, put on a pair of buckskin gloves, gathered up his reins 
carefully, cracked his whip, and away they went rattling 
down the road toward Dolorosa. 

For a few days things looked very lonely around the 
cabin by the lake. But Wilson and Mack were too busy to 
get very lonesome. They spent some days carefully looking 
over the hill on which the Bismarck was situated. As the 
survey of that claim was still supposed not to cover the lead, 
they determined on making a search for the true lead outside 
of the Bismarck ground on the supposition that the latter was 
only a rich spur. They carefully noted the new survey of 
the Silver Star, which was nearly due north and south. 
Other claims on the hill were found to be nearly the same, 
while the Bismarck ran some thirty-five degrees west of 
north. If they could only enter the Yankee Doodle, and 
locate the true direction of its vein, the chain of evidence con- 
cerning the general direction of the veins on that hill would 
be complete. But the Yankee Doodle was partly owned, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 53 


and entirely controlled, by the Long gang, who would take 
pleasure in shooting either Mack or Wilson at sight if they 
were caught around the shaft. To broach such a subject to 
the Stengels, who still owned half the Yankee Doodle, would 
only excite suspicion, and furnish a pointer to the other party. 
The accompanying diagram will explain the situation of these 
mining claims, while it illustrates the curious features of min- 
ing law that several claims may overlap one another. 



Wilson and Mack were not over-sensitive as to the means 
they should employ against the notorious Long gang. They 
determined to inspect the Yankee Doodle at all hazards. The 
day shift quit work on that claim at six o’clock, and the night 
shift began at seven. This would give plenty of time for a 
man lowered into the shaft to examine the vein. They de- 
termined to run the risk of this dangerous attempt. As even- 
ing came on they walked leisurely down the gulch, around 
the hill out of sight, and approached the Yankee Doodle 
from the opposite side. A dense growth of young spruce 
trees sheltered them from view, while at the short distance of 
about ten rods they could plainly hear the voices of the men 
as the day shift quit work. As the men passed up the hill 


2 54 


AN IRON CROWN. 


toward their cabin, which was over arise out of sight, Wilson 
and Mack stole from tree to tree, till at last they were posi- 
tive everybody had left the shaft. 

To lower Wilson was but the work of a moment. He 
lighted a candle, and, by means of his compass attempted to 
determine the course of the vein. But this was a much harder 
task than he had anticipated. The layers of irregular wall 
rock were hard to determine by the dim light of a candle. 
The pay streak seemed to dip and twist from a straight course. 
Ten minutes elapsed. They seemed an hour to Mack, who 
grew impatient, and called softly down to Wilson to hurry. 
The latter was even using the pick in the bottom of the shaft 
to trace the course of the vein. Twenty minutes gone. 

“ Wilson, you must hurry.” 

“Plenty of time. They’ll be gone just an hour. I think 
I’ve got it. Due north and south.” 

“ Then for Heaven’s sake take the rope till I haul you out. 
No telling what may happen.” 

“ We’re doing this once for all, and I want no mistakes. 
Just as I thought, north and south, like the Silver Star.” 

“ Hurry up.” 

“ I’ll get a few pieces of ore while I’m at it.” 

“Hark! I hear something,” said Mack in a whisper. A 
dry stick broke in the woods as if tramped by a heavy foot. 
Then the 1 ight of a lantern shone on the trail. 

“ Wilson, somebody’s coming along the trail with a lan- 
tern; come quick.” 

“ You haven’t time to wind me out. It’s the boys below 
going to town. Dodge into the brush.” Mack disappeared 
instantly in the bushes, and Wilson blew out his candle. 
Slowly the light advanced along the trail, darting round 
streams of pale yellow through openings in the shrubbery. 
The crunching of the heavy nailed boots came nearer and 
nearer. There was onlv one man, and that man was Dick 
Long. Mack was now thoroughly frightened, for instead of 
passing on to the cabin, Long set his lantern on the platform 
by the windlass and sat down to rest. Mack anxiously 
watched him from his place of concealment. If he discovered 
Wilson in the shaft there was no telling what might happen. 
Long appeared in no hurry to go. He sat on the edge of the 
platform and broke up some ore to look at. A miner is con- 
stantly under an impulse to break ore as strong as that which 
impels a boy to look at a new jackknife every few minutes. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


z 55 


It was nearly time for the night shift to return. Long 
evidently intended to wait till they came. In desperation 
Mack rose from his place of concealment. Something must 
be done at once. His plan was formed in an instant. He 
stepped out and listened. The shaft was as quiet as a grave 
while Long still sat hammering quartz. Mack left the spruce 
thicket in an opposite direction, rapidly making a detour over 
the swell in the hillside, struck the trail some fifteen rods 
above, and then beginning to whistle, tramped carelessly 
down toward the Yankee Doodle. 

“ Who’s there?” called out Long, peering into the dark- 
ness of the somber woods. 

“ George Mack.” Then approaching he said, “ Been to 
town and thought I’d try the trail through the park coinin’ 
back. I don’t believe though it’s a bit better than the old trail 
and a little further for me.” 

“ Tain’t as good as the old trail. It’s desprit sloppy in the 
park on account of them springs. The old trail is tolerable 
good since the snow’s gone.” Mack walked boldly up to the 
shaft and remarked, a Got a little water in your shaft, I see.” 
Then he dropped a bit of rock down as if to test the depth of 
the little puddle that glimmered in the starlight, and gave a 
significant cough. 

“Not enough to hurt anything,” said Long, who was un- 
expectedly civil as a man can afford to be who has had every- 
thing his own way. 

“ Long, did you ever see the like of the wild currants this 
year?” It was well for Mack that the darkness concealed 
the anxiety depicted on his face, as he made this attempt to 
turn the conversation in a pomological direction. 

u They are tolerably plenty.” 

u They make a nice sauce.” 

“ No? I reckoned they’d have a wild taste.” 

“ Stew them in brown sugar and they’re just the thing for 
biliousness.” 

u I’ll try ’em. I’m sick an’ tired ’o bacon an’ canned 
truck.” 

“Come down the trail here and I’ll show you a nice patch.” 
Long hesitated. 

“ It’s only a step, just beyond that big tree yonder.” Long 
picked up the lantern and led the way toward the spot in- 
dicated. There on a mound caused by the upturning of a big 
tree, grew a cluster of currant bushes, from the drooping 


256 


AN IRON CROWN. 


boughs of which hung the large black fruit in tempting 
masses. The warm soil thus accidentally raised and exposed 
to the sun had made the berries unusually large and fine. 

“ Well, them’s the nicest things I’ve seen in this blasted 
country,” said Long. “ But then I ’spose you ought to have 
’em, seein’ as you found ’em.” Mack had never felt so gener- 
ous. He had intended to pick the berries himself next Sun- 
day. But he replied hastily: 

“ No, you take them Long. You haven’t had any; 
there are more over by our cabin.” Then he explained how 
much sugar they would need, how long they must be cooked, 
that no water need be put in, that they must be stirred con- 
stantly, and so on, till he could think of nothing at all further 
to say on the subject of wild-currant sauce. Then he seized 
a branch and exposing it to the light of the lantern, exclaimed: 
“ Aren’t they mighty nice, though? ” 

“I reckon they’re not to be sneezed at.” 

“ They are better than any medicine for the liver.” 

“ Guess I’ll go for ’em Sunday.” Then Long remarked 
that the boys were coming down to go on the night shift, and 
he must go up and show them where another blast was 
needed on the side. Mack walked down the trail into the 
darkness with throbbing, anxious heart. Pretty soon he 
heard footsteeps. He waited and Wilson joined him. 

“ That was a close call, wasn’t it? ” 

“ I told you you had better hurry. Where would you 
be if it had not been for that pole ladder?” 

“ In the hole I guess.” 

“ Didn’t I fool Long nicely though? ” 

“ I’ll never take such another risk. When I thought of 
what happened in the Bismarck that night, my knees trembled 
so I could hardly stand. I wouldn’t go into that hole again 
for a million dollars. But we’ve got a pointer, and no 
mistake.” 

Next morning, under the influence of that pointer, Wilson 
and Mack began cutting a ditch across the apex of the nar- 
row triangle formed by the junction of the Bismarck and the 
Yankee Doodle side lines. The surface here was u wash,” 
that is the debris from the cliff above had been accumulating 
there for ages, and no rock formation was exposed. They 
cut a long narrow trench across the hillside parallel with the 
mountain, two feet wide and thirty feet long. They dug this 
as deep as they could conveniently work in it. Still no solid 


/ 


AN IRON CROWN. 257 

rock appeared. Miners passed and laughed at them. Many 
jokes were cracked at the expense of this “ tunnel above 
ground.” Then they extended the length at the ends till the 
ditch was sixty feet long. Still no rock appeared. 

The Long party had many questions to ask about what 
the two men expected to cut there, but they received no satis- 
factory replies. Wilson and Mack now widened the ditch 
and increased the depth along its whole length to six feet. 
Still no rock appeared. The soil was full of hard boulders 
which were packed in the tough clay as if they had grown 
there. It was very toilsome labor, and the buoyant hope with 
which they began gradually gave place to that steady resolu- 
tion which works only through a sense of duty, or to reach a 
prescribed limit set at the beginning. They had been at 
work a week and had nothing to show for their pains, but a 
big ugly ditch which everybody laughed at. The amount of 
money which has been absolutely thrown away in the United 
States in similar prospecting would, if accurately summed up, 
amount to many millions. They considered whether it were 
not best to stop work. Then the conclusion was reached that 
prospecting anywhere else was equally uncertain. As well 
give this a thorough trial. 

They went to work again, and in ten days had dug the 
ditch so deep that they could no longer throw the dirt out. 
They increased its length to eighty feet. Then, in despair, 
they decided to quit. After resting for a while, Wilson 
concluded he would go a little deeper in the center about 
where the vein ought to be, according to their figuring. He 
dug vigorously into the tough clay, until his pick finally struck 
a very hard rock; but that signified nothing, they had struck 
many large boulders that had excited a momentary hope. He 
dug further, but could not reach the edge of it. It was now 
too late to throw away the loose dirt that night; with a faint 
hope they went home, very tired, and cooked their supper by 
firelight. Then they sat around a blazing camp fire of dry 
spruce, in the chill night air, and discussed plans for the future. 
If this prospect failed they must quit; they were nearly out 
of both money and provisions, while winter was rapidly ap- 
proaching. October would drive out from the mountains all 
who did not have the necessary buildings and supplies to en- 
dure a snow blockade. 

Next morning early they resumed work. The rock 
proved to be quartz, but that signified little, for there were 


17 


258 


AN IRON CROWN. 


enormous masses of detached quartz all over the mountain. 
But the rock steadily widened. It began to look like a lead. 
By ten o’clock they established the fact that it was an im- 
mense vein, ten feet wide, with a pay streak of beautiful 
quartz four feet thick. They could scarcely believe their good 
fortune, though they had, at first, almost expected it. With 
fingers that trembled with eagerness, Wilson whittled a 
smooth space on a stake, and the u Amazon” lode was located, 
running due north and south, the usual fifteen hundred feet in 
length and three hundred in width. The names of Texas 
Jack, Shorty, and two other influential miners were placed on 
the stake for a twentieth each. The ground had been vacant, 
the title was unquestioned, and this large number of owners 
was a warning that no trifling with the claim would be 
allowed. 

The name Amazon proved to be very appropriate, for, as 
work progressed, it was found that the lode exceeded in body 
and richness even the great Ruby Queen. There was the 
usual sensation in camp, and the usual flocking of miners to 
see the rich strike. Pay ore was found almost from the very 
first. Within one month a dozen men were at work on the 
mine, while a burro train crept up and down the trail packing 
the ore in sacks to the smelter. Wilson and Mack had been 
successful beyond their most extravagant hopes. They were 
worth a hundred thousand each, with their property appreci- 
ating in value every day. They were men of importance. 
They were consulted, and asked to lead in matters of public 
interest. Their names frequently appeared in the local paper, 
“ The Elk Mountain Boomer,” and uniformly had Esquire 
appended thereto. Everything that the camp had in the way 
of honors was theirs merely for the asking. Such is the 
power of the almighty dollar. 

Wilson had written full particulars to Nor well as soon as 
the discovery was assured beyond a doubt. He also indited a 
careful letter to Alice Norwell, who had replied to his con- 
cerning May Bryce. This new strike had opened up new 
probabilities. In a year or two he could sell out, and retire on 
an ample fortune. There was only one regret, and that was, 
that Tom Norwell had not staid long enough to profit by this 
wonderful stroke of fortune. 

Garmand had really come to the country looking for good 
chances to invest in mining property. Among civilized men 
it would not be possible to find two beings farther apart, from 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 59 


every conceivable standpoint, than the Cockney and the Rust- 
ler. The British aristocracy have, by a thousand years of cul- 
ture, and the persistent assumption to their caste of everything 
that is easy, honorable and lucrative, come to believe that the 
human race is divided naturally into two very distinct classes, 
themselves and the balance of mankind. At times, for political 
or other caste reasons, they admit an equality between them- 
selves and the other nobility of Europe. But between the aris- 
tocracy and the people who are obliged to work for their living, 
there never was, and never can be anything in common, save 
the everpresent fact, that the latter must contribute a portion of 
their scanty earnings to support the former. This forced con- 
tribution has become so much a part ot the system, and is 
often levied under such specious guises, that, perhaps, it is 
never suspected by thousands of honorable, high-minded men 
who profit by it. No doubt, many who have considered the 
subject, reasoning from the standpoint of a system sanctioned 
by centuries of usage, think it right. Self-interest perpetuates 
great abuses. Although it is claimed that there is not in the 
world a similar number of people constituting one social 
whole superior in culture, refinement, and hospitality to the 
aristocracy of Great Britain, yet this self-constituted caste is 
in continual perpetration of a wrong. Perhaps an unconscious 
wrong but yet a bitter, inexorable wrong none the less, a 
wrong which allows the British laborer no part in British soil. 
No one denies that to remedy this wrong would cause great 
hardship to thousands; it would do justice to millions. The 
Inca of Peru was not only a man, but, at the same time, 
God himself. To the American it is utterly incomprehensible 
how such false and debasing ideas of government could ever 
have originated. But the nobility of Europe understands 
fully the advantage of these wicked notions of the constitu- 
tion of society, and so, exacts privileges contrary to nature, 
and such as God never intended any man to possess to the ex- 
clusion of his fellow. 

Garmand, as the representative, in a measure, for want of 
a better, of everything anti-plebeian, was the very antipodes of 
the social fabric around him. He looked at the swarthy, 
shaggy miners very much as he would look at the animals in 
a cage, except that he never poked them with his cane. 
Really, they were deuced interesting creachaws, and proper 
subjects of study, you know. They were so very picturesque, 
though he thought soap might improve them. They were 


26 o 


AN IRON CROWN. 


very much more unique than the peasantry of New York or 
Chicago. He sometimes entertained a vague suspicion that it 
might be possible that these queer beings scarcely recognized 
the fact that he belonged to a superior class. But ‘he wisely 
kept such suspicions to himself. Then it seemed strange never 
to give them shillings when they kindly showed him around 
the mines, and explained the various kinds of ore. He had 
tried this once on a miner, but a sudden ejaculation of a very 
lurid nature, together with a dangerous look, and some un- 
complimentary remarks about beggars, had caused him to 
abandon his design with great precipitation and no little alarm. 

On the other hand, the Rustler looked on the Cockney as 
a curiosity, which a kind Providence had sent to this grim 
country of toil and disappointment, as a perennial source of 
amusement. Garmand had learned one important lesson 
early, namely, that bullying manners to supposed inferiors do 
not take well in America. Hence, he cultivated a cordiality 
more in consonance with the demands of his surroundings. 
He betrayed an almost childish ignorance, not only of mining, 
but of everything pertaining to W estern life. In a moment 
of inspiration, some miner, who evidently had old Rough and 
Ready in mind, dubbed the Englishman “ Fresh and Ready.” 
By way of apology, a good-natured friend told Garmand that 
every one in that country must have a nickname, and, as he 
never appeared to tire of tramping around the mountains, 
they called him “ Fresh and Ready.” He laughed heartily 
over the idea, and thought it a good one. 

Soon after the location of the Amazon, Garmand wanted 
to buy out Wilson and Mack. They offered to take fifty 
thousand dollars for the entire claim. He thought it too 
much, and refused to buy. In two weeks he could have 
doubled his money. One day Shorty asked him to go up the 
long ridge, west of town to see a claim. They took the day 
for it, resting from time to time as Garmand grew short of 
breath. These breathing-spells gave him opportunities to 
draw out some of the great fund of information which Shorty 
possessed, concernimg the country, and which he was always 
willing to part with freely to strangers. 

“ Mr. Shorty, why do they call that bird a camp-robber?” 
asked Garmand, as one of these birds lazily flew to a tree 
near them. Shorty was not very well up in ornithology, but 
he was never known to allow any one to hunger long for 
information. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


26 l 


44 Waal,” said Shorty, squatting on a log and cutting off a 
fresh chew of tobacco, u you see there is a story connected 
with it. I’ll bet my livers it’s as romantic as lots o’ them 
things they put in books. You see,” said Shorty, reaching 
out for a piece of quartz that lay on the log left by some 
prospector — “ Now jest look at that truck. I reckon I kin 
tell the name o’ every claim within fifty miles as soon as I 
clap eyes onto their rock.” Then, with a critical aspect he 
continued — “That’s outen the Silver Knight over the range 
by O-Be-Joyful, an’ this” — picking up another piece — 44 is 
outen the Storm King way over by Tenderfoot Gulch.” 

44 That’s wonderful. I don’t see how you can do it.” 

44 After twenty years’ rustlin’ ye kin bet yer lights a man 
knows somethin’ about rock.” The truth of this proposi- 
tion appeared so probable that Garmand did not feel disposed 
to risk any portion of his anatomy disputing it. He by way 
of reminder, remarked : 

44 Mr. Shorty, you didn’t finish the story about the camp- 
robber.” 

44 Damfidid. My memory doesn’t seem to have the grip 
it used to, ’cept fur rocks. I reckon it’ll never let up on 
rocks. Waal, when this country was fust settled at Denver 
an’ Pike’s Peak there was some bad men come into it ” 

44 Aw, really! regular sinners, I suppose?” 

44 Sinners!” said Shorty, with a tone of supreme contempt, 
44 who cares fur sinners? Holy Moses! Why a rustler 7 ud 
eat a nordinary sinner fur breakfast any day. But these 
warn’t no sinners bv a jugful. They was a lot of cussed 
skunks. They wouldn’t stand right up in a saloon, which 
I reckon is the proper place fur a fuss, because there’s some- 
body by to see fair play, and draw on their man like a Chris- 
tian — no, they wasn’t that sort o’ chaps. They’d sneak 
around a feller’s tent in the night an’ shoot him while he was 
asleep an’ light out with his bag o’ dust an’ mebbe his blan- 
kets. Waal, that sort o’ thing don’t go down with rustlers. 
It sticks in their craw. Over at Californy Gulch we ketched 
three of them goin’ through a feller’s cabin while he was 
workin’ on his claim. One was a durn Mexican greaser an’ 
tother two white men. One said he was a 49-er, but we 
wouldn’t stand no sech insult as that. We told him he bet- 
ter say his prars instead o’ lyin. So we jest swung ’em up, 
and saved the ropes, as they was awful scarce and high in 
that camp an’ come mighty handy. We laid ’em side and 


262 


AN IRON CROWN. 


side in a gulch whar they’d make no disturbance, an’ shoveled 
some gravel over ’em, though I reckon that was a waste of 
time for sich ornery cusses. We seed some birds hangin’ 
round there that we hadn’t noticed before, so we named ’em 
camp-robbers for fun. Now, it’s powerful queer, but I hope 
to be held up right here, by the ghost of Moses, if them 
birds didn’t come back next day and decorate them graves.” 
w No? Really?” 

“ Fact. They put flowers on the head an’ they actooally 
spread ole gunny sacks an’ ole socks over the toes that was 
stickin’ outen that gravel.” 

“’Pon my soul that was very strange.” 

“ It’s wuss than strange. It was a meracle.” 

An interval of climbing followed this historical narration. 
At the next rest Shorty remarked : 

“ Mr. Garmand, this claim we’re goin’ to see is a mighty 
good ’un, but it isn’t a patchin’ to the one I have in the San 
Joo-an. That has six feet of pay streak that’ll run two 
thousand to the ton, half gold. I reckon the Bank of 
England couldn’t buy that’n.” Garmand looked him square 
in the face and then said: 

“ Now, really, Mr. Shorty, I cawn’t accept that statement. 
It is asking too much — aw now — it is, you know. Do you 
know what the Bank of England is? It covers ground 
enough for a farm. It has tons of gold and silver and wagon 
loads of notes and stuff. It has clerks enough to run a 
mining camp. Humph! it has money enough to buy out the 
whole of this blawsted country, you know, and not miss it.” 
Shorty quailed. His ideas of a bank were acquired chiefly 
from bis observation of the bank at Dolorosa, which occupied 
the front end of a store, while its limits in the rear were 
marked by a huge stack of bacon that separated the finances 
from the groceries. The idea of a bank that covered a farm, 
for a moment stampeded all other ideas in his round bullet 
head and left him dizzy. He knew it must be an enormous 
lie but he could not successfully dispute it. In the moun- 
tains Shorty was invincible. In London he was a helpless 
babe. He had made a great mistake in ever daring to meet 
the enemy on foreign soil. 

“ Waal, that is”— here he used a word for which the new 
version sometimes substitutes Hades. “Done up slick as a 
whistle, and by old Fresh and Ready,” he muttered to him- 
self then relapsed into silence. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


263 


Garmand enjoyed his triumph. He had on several oc- 
casions in America had a painful suspicion that the Yankee 
was playing him. But this was a new and strange country; 
he was prepared to hear strange things, and besides could not 
afford to doubt without adequate information to the contrary. 
It takes a wise man to doubt, and the Englishman was not 
prepared to engage in any process so difficult as to require 
him to fall back on his mental reserves. Still he had 
doubted Shorty’s story about the artistic lynching of six men 
at the Flap Jack mine, which in fact was true excepting a 
few embellishments relating to unimportant details. 

I11 silence they continued the journey to the claim, which 
was carefully examined, Shorty expatiating continually on 
the richness of the “ truck,” its body, etc. But the vein did 
not look so wide nor the ore so rich as Garmand had expected 
it. Though a valuable property it did not seem to be worth 
over one-tenth of the fifty thousand asked for it. Disgusted 
by similar repeated experiences Garmand wisely determined 
to return to New York without buying at all. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

IN WHICH SUNDRY OLD ACQUAINTANCES ARE RENEWED. 

The apartments of the Hacketts in Cardington street 
looked exactly the same as they had done for years. The 
superintending hand of Aunt Rhoda was everywhere visible. 
The scrupulous polish of the little stove hearth, which had a 
half-oiled appearance from occasional rubbing w T ith a cloth 
steeped in the dish-water, betrayed that rigid economy was 
the first consideration, beauty the second. The greasy water 
prevented the metal’s rusting. If the polish did not have 
the metallic luster given by the article manufactured for that 
purpose it certainly had a domestic appearance, when well 
dried and rubbed, that looked far better. The sun poured 
into the windows, whose muslin blinds were partially lowered. 
In the window, drinking in deep draughts of this golden life 
stream, stood a handsome geranium. It had been watered 
and freshened with new earth brought from Long Island by a 
friend of Mary’s, and so carefully dusted and burnished that 


264 


AN IRON CROWN. 


it looked like a spick and span new geranium from nature’s 
show-window instead of a sober old one which had done 
duty in contributing for five years its mite to the very inade- 
quate sum total of floral beauty in this wilderness of blazing 
bricks and choking, grimy atmosphere. The canary in the 
cage was engaged in a luxurious bath as a preliminary to a 
very elaborate toilet that befitted a canary of the great me- 
tropolis. Canaries know no distinctions of caste, and the gay 
little prisoner of Cardington street wore the same chaste, be- 
coming dress of his fellows on Fifth avenue. But despite his 
pretty hoppings and chirpings and his melodious song, the 
canary continually reminds me of the man who talks elo- 
quently of nothing to avoid a disagreeable subject. He is 
only a poor miserable little prisoner in spite of his gayety, 
and one of the long line of unfortunate, appealing prisoners, 
human and animal, who have looked wistfully through the 
cruel bars since evil first entered the world. 

The sun streamed over the faded carpet and lost itself in 
the threadbare meshes. A spot where a hole had been 
burned was patched with a new piece, the bright figure of 
which shone out like a peony in a background of brown 
forest leaves. The chairs stood around the room each in its 
accustomed place. Space was too scarce to allow the chairs 
to run at large over the room, as they usually do in illy-regu- 
lated families where even the furniture acquires disorderly 
habits. An atmosphere of quiet pervaded the place. Aunt 
Rhoda sat sewing. Mary was at work at the bindery. An 
old wooden clock ticked away monotonously as if, in its 
younger days, it had ambitiously undertaken to tick out the 
remainder of time, but had long since been impressed with 
the hopelessness of one clock’s ever accomplishing the feat. 
Like thousands of human beings it ticked now chiefly through 
force of habit, resigned to quit at any time. This clock was 
an heirloom and a curiosity. On its front below the dial was 
a remarkable specimen of architecture in the shape of a white 
house with red windows, yellow chimneys and a blue door 
yard. Two cerulean trees that looked exactly like those bristle 
swabs used for cleaning lamp chimneys, flanked the entrance 
to the mansion. Directly in front of the pendulum was a little 
oval window. Whether the clockmaker intended this as a 
means by which the pendulum could watch the housewife, or 
as a medium through which the housewife could observe any 
neglect of duty on the part of the pendulum, is a question 


AN IRON CROWN. 


265 


which it is not easy after the lapse of so many years to deter- 
mine. Below was another panel in which was represented a 
youth in a coat the color of the door-yard and wearing a very 
stiff cravat, who was apparently making love to a very slender 
young lady in a cheese-colored dress with an absurdly long- 
pointed corsage. It is a well-attested fact that love is blind 
and there is strong reason for believing that it usually lacks 
one or more of the remaining senses. Otherwise it is difficult 
to understand how a young lady could listen to the voice of 
love while encased in a dress that reduced the upper portion 
of her body to the exact shape of a funnel. These persons 
had a faded, tired-out expression. In spite of his gay attire 
the young man reminded one of an octogenarian, and the 
young lady in the cheese-colored dress recalled to my mind a 
horrible little piece I used to read at school, entitled, if I re- 
member aright, 44 A corpse dressed for a ball.” The look of 
depression to be observed in the figures had come to stay, as 
it unfortunately often does in real life, for Aunt Rhoda, 
though she brightened up everything else, realized the im- 
minent risk of attempting to restore works of art. 

Aside from its historic and artistic interest, this clock 
had an economic one. It illustrated the thrift of a Connecti- 
cut Yankee. It had cost Mary Hackett’s grandfather sixty 
dollars sixty years before, one-third cash, balance in notes at 
six per cent. To make it had cost the enterprising money 
getter who dealt in time, about five dollars. Aunt Rhoda laid 
aside her work with a sigh: 

44 Dear me, it’s dreadful lonesome since he’s gone. It was 
good of that Miss Ingledee to call, such a fine lady as she is. 
But all their good turns wont bring Johnnie back.” There 
was a knock at the door. Aunt Rhoda ooened it. and Mrs. 
Mai ley appeared : 

44 Good-mornin’, Miss Hackett. How are ye this morn- 
in’?” 

44 I’m well as usual; take a chair.” 

44 An’ are ye gittin’ reconciled? The Lord knows what’s 
best for us.” 

44 Oh, I can’t bear to think of it, Mrs. M alley.” 

44 Seems to me if I lost Pipe or Quill that way, I couldn’t 
stand it.” 

44 If I could only ’a seen him buried I shouldn’t ’a cared.” 

44 Miss Hackett, if my boys was took off that way, and 
specially Pipe, I know I’d go wild. I couldn’t keep up 


266 


AN IRON CROWN. 


under it. It was bad enough when Malley went with a fever. 
But then I saw him go, an’ knowed just where he went to.” 
The exact bearing of Mrs. Malley’s allusions was sometimes 
not very discernible. Here she did not mean to say that she 
knew just where her departed husband’s future abode might 
be located, but that she had seen him properly buried. 

Country people, and in fact, poor people generally, have 
strange ideas of what constitutes consolation in time of 
bereavement. Around the sick bed they whisper their worst 
fears, and indiscreet visitors indulge in dire predictions, and 
cite parallel cases with fatal terminations. After the funeral 
they offer the most lugubrious consolation. With them, as 
with better informed people who fall into a certain phase of 
religion, man is a worm who was destined to be continually 
rolled in the dry dust of sorrow. For him the most direful 
thing that can happen is to be expected, and is scarcely the 
deserts of his iniquity. The commonest consolation usuady 
heard on these occasions of sorrow is the remark, u Well, he’s 
better off where he’s gone than he was here.” After some 
further dismal attempts at consolation, Mrs. Malley turned 
the subject of conversation in the direction of her own boys. 

“ Say as ye like, them boys has been good to me, an’ 
that’s more than some mothers can say.” 

w They’re go ahead boys. Now our Johnnie never could 
’a done much, being a cripple.” 

u It’s Pipe that’s got the go ahead, I guess. Would you 
believe since he started in business he’s saved nearly two 
hundred dollars?” 

u I want to know.” 

“ Now he’s goin’ to rent a store and put up a big sign, 
“ Pipe Malley & Co.” 
w 1 want to know,” 

“ Pipe says he’ll have a wagon yet, with Pipe Malley 
& Co. painted on the side. That’ll be a proud day for him.” 
a Who’s the company. Isn’t Quill an equal partner? ” 

“ No, he’s not been took in yet. I wanted him to be, for 
it didn’t seem fair seein’ they were twins, to keep Quill out of 
the firm. But Pipe said he had started the fruit stand and 
made all the capital, and if Quill wanted to go in he’d haf to 
put up the money. I’d put it up myself, only I couldn’t raise 
a hundred dollars if I broke my back at the wash tub. So 
Quill will have to work for the firm -as a clerk.” 

a If Quill had any snap he’d work for himself and git a 
business of his own.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 267 

u But Quill is easy like, an’ faith I believe he couldn’t man- 
age the business if he had it.” 

A glance at Mr. Quill Malley’s affairs may be of interest 
here. At first, loth to enter Roker’s employ and play spy on 
his teacher’s friend, Quill had soon managed to overcome his 
scruples toward a business which brought him in a dollar so 
easily every time he engaged in it. Then the business which 
consisted merely in dodging around corners and watching a 
man, was to his notion very agreeable and highly genteel. 
But on Tom Norwell’s absence Quill’s new occupation was 
ended as suddenly as it began. By hanging around Roker’s 
lodgings he at last caught a sight of that individual, and with 
papers under his arm managed to meet the smooth-faced 
gentleman, whose thin lips concealed a hair-trigger snarl 
warranted to go off instantly. Crossing directly in front of 
Roker, Quill called: 

“ Heral, Mister? Worl, Times, Heral? ” Then lowering 
his voice he ventured, “ Say Mister, can’t ye give a fellow 
’notherjob?” Roker gave a most forbidding scowl and ac- 
companied it with a threatening movement of his cane. Quill 
shrank back. 

u You little scoundrel, I’ll give you a job. You’re hang- 
ing round this place watching the house to give information to 
some gang of burglars. Yes, I’ll give you a good long job. 
Here’s a policeman at the next corner.” Then he grabbed 
Quill by the arm. 

“ Please don’t, Mister,” said Quill meekly, afraid to resist. 
“ I wasn’t doin’ nothin’.’” 

“ Don’t lie to me, you little scamp. There have been 
several burglaries committed in this street lately.” 

“ Please Mister, I’m innocenter than — ” Here Quill’s 
rhetoric failed him, not being well supplied with similes that 
did justice to excessive innocence, never having had occasion 
before to use them. “ I seed no harm in speakin” to a old ac- 
quaintance. Lem me go this time an’ I’ll never show up here 
agin. 

“ Oh, you won’t? ” 

“ Honor bright, I won’t.” 
u What do you think I’d do if you did? ” 

“ I ’spose I’d git six months any way.” 

“ Your judgment is very correct, I see. You know then 
that I shall be compelled to have you locked up, eh? You 
want to be locked up do you, poking your nose into other 
people’s affairs?” 


268 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ No I don’t. I know you’d like to do it.” 

4 1 don’t want to, but I’m afraid I’ll have to. Now clear 
out,” said Roker, giving Quill a shove. The latter needed no 
second invitation. His little plan of going into 44 business ” 
too, and surprising his brother Pipe, had signally failed. 

44 This is wot a feller gits,” he murmured, when out of 
Roker’s hearing, 44 fur accommodatin’ them fly chaps. They 
hain’t no more thanks about ’em than a oyster.” 

After Mr. Norwell’s death, Alice Norwell feeling that she 
must now earn her own living, had taken a very plain little 
room where she could reduce her expenses to a minimum. 
She knew how to do nothing in particular, and numerous ap- 
plications in answer to advertisements, only revealed her in- 
capacity, and the hard fact that the best she could hope to get 
under the most favorable circumstances would be very little. 
Hickley had furnished her with legal copying, which she was 
able to do rapidly and well. He advised her to learn short- 
hand and type- writing. The latter business was then in its 
infancy and promised very handsome remuneration. Gar- 
mand had called on her several times before making his trip 
to the W est. He was delighted with the cosiness of the tiny 
parlor which Alice was allowed to use for the reception of 
company. 

44 Really, this is quite chawming, Miss Norwell.” 

44 1 like it very much. The people are very kind to me.” 
44 Poor people, I suppose. ’Pon my soul, they seem to get 
along uncommon comfortably. I wouldn’t mind trying it 
awhile myself. I suppose after all it’s chiefly the way we 
look at things that makes the difference.” 

44 A palace is a poor exchange for happiness,” said Alice, 
with a smile, which the careful observer would have con- 
strued as an expression of resignation to her misfortunes. 

44 That is a highly expressive way of stating the case. I 
venture the people who live in palaces never thought of that 
at all. I almost feel as if I could be poor myself. It must be 
chawming, just for a change.” 

Wyndleigh Garmand spoke of poverty much as he would 
speak of a boot that was rather too tight. He was apparently 
under the impression that it could, like that useful article of 
dress, be laid aside, when it pinched a trifle too hard, and for- 
gotten. As a change, perhaps, even poverty might be agree- 
able for a time. He knew no more of poverty than he did 
of most other things outside that favored circle of British 


AN IRON CROWN. 


269 

* 

society, in which no man works or takes a thought of the 
morrow. 

Had Garmand only admitted it, or thought of the subject 
at all, he would have found that the chief interest attached to 
this out-of-the-way abode of respectable poverty, was not the 
little artifices by which poverty strove to make itself en- 
durable, but the companionship of the refined woman he met 
there. He knew she was not beautiful, especially since mis- 
fortune had added a shade to the gravity of features never in- 
clined to levity. But then he could forgive the lack of beauty 
in woman, which some men never can do. This one could 
interest him in almost any subject by her graces of intellect 
and conversational resources. Then, as she at heart pitied his 
ignorance of American ways, she indirectly corrected many 
little blunders of which he was guilty. This was done so 
delicately that he felt obliged for the information, while he 
flattered himself that she was unconscious of the service she 
was rendering. 

When the legacy received by Tom and Alice had par- 
tially retrieved their fortunes, they hired better apartments in 
a good locality, and lived in comfort again. Their income, 
however, would not admit of any attempt at style. But Alice 
had no desire to participate much in the doings of the so- 
called best society. She could amuse herself more profitably 
with a much less expenditure of time, money and strength. 
Tom was still popular, and under the aegis of Chetta Ingle- 
dee’s friendship, again entered the circles to which he had 
been accustomed. Some of their former friends were rather 
cool in their treatment of theNorwells. Miss Harrie Snicker 
in particular thought that now when they were poor they 
ought not to crowd themselves into select society. “ If people 
were allowed to go where nobody wanted them, pretty soon 
society would be dreadfully common.” 

May Bryce, who was visiting an aunt that lived a short 
distance up the Hudson, was in the city a great deal now, and 
always stopped with the Norwells. She and Alice had be- 
come fast friends. Theater parties, card parties, and other 
means of amusement, were planned especially for May’s 
benefit. In this respect it was hard to tell which was most 
attentive to their guest, the brother or the sister. Alice’s in- 
terest resembled that of an elder sister toward a younger, for 
whom she, in a measure, takes the place of a mother. May’s 
unsophisticated country ways had a certain charm for this 


270 


AN IRON CROWN. 


young lady, who had all the niceties of refinement and ele- 
gances of manner imparted by constant intercourse with polite 
society, but who never showed them off merely for effect. 
But May Bryce was no country school-girl with hoydenish 
manners. She was unpracticed but not awkward, diffident 
but not dull. Her mind had received careful training, and 
she had read considerable, and, better still, only the best books. 
Her father and mother, unlike most country people, were com- 
petent to advise in this particular, for they had themselves en- 
joyed exceptional advantages for people in their station of 
life. Mr. Bryce was known as a wealthy farmer, and could 
afford to indulge his daughter’s tastes. 

Within the circle of her friends, Ma}' was of a very con- 
fiding nature. She had never deceived anybody in her life, 
and believed everybody else incapable of deceit, except, per- 
haps, an occasional very bad person, such as novelists employ 
for villains. She had an imaginative nature that delighted 
to dwell in an ideal world. This feature of her character had 
grown to abnormal proportions for several reasons. She had 
never seen any great trouble. She had no brothers and sis- 
ters, hence had missed that valuable adjunct to true develop- 
ment, intimate association with those who cannot conceal their 
faults, and whose virtues may not be exaggerated by the halo 
of distance. May had never been a leader even in the simple 
society of her neighborhood. She formed none of those 
sweet girl acquaintanceships which are so effusive and ephe- 
meral. Hence her opportunities to learn by observation what 
human nature really was, were few. Her reluctance to form 
intimate acquaintances was chiefly because she had constantly 
pictured to herself superior beings, and was consequently not 
satisfied with the commonplace ones she saw around her. 
Many arrive at this same result by constant reading of highly 
sentimental fiction, but in May Bryce it was a consequence of 
the feeling that in delicacy of perception and refinement of 
feeling, she was far superior to the young folks with whom 
she was thrown. She secretly hoped that sometime she might 
occupy a more exalted sphere in life. In her childlike ig- 
norance of human nature she was painfully credulous. The 
most improbable fib told by some mischievous companion 
passed for truth, because, since she had no impulses toward 
deception, she thought others could have none. She learned 
slowly the painful truth that all men lie naturally, that some lie 
with a conscience, and others lie for the love of it. She was 


AN IRON CROWN 


271 


so tender hearted that she would not willingly give pain to 
the most insignificant creature. But in spite of all these traits 
of character, which may combine in rare instances to render 
the life of their possessor very happy, but ordinarily bring 
only misery, May Bryce had others equally strong in an op- 
posite direction. She had a vigorous intellect, whose gifts 
would win her recognition in any society in which she might 
be thrown. She had a will power which, aided by con- 
scientiousness, would in case of any great crisis, enable her to 
take a decided stand and abide the consequences, whatever 
they might be. With all her natural diffidence of character 
and her erratic, exuberant imagination she was not a purpose- 
less girl. She could conceive difficult undertakings and though 
they might possess a shade of the impractical, the product of 
her luxuriant fancy, she had the patience and perseverance to 
carry them out to a legitimate conclusion. Her slender 
figure, delicate features and fair complexion, gave her a child- 
like appearance which did injustice to her real womanhood. 
She was a noble woman, as pure as an angel, with strong con- 
victions, and an instinctive hatred of everything that was 
wrong. 

Possessing such a nature she must of necessity be im- 
pressed with the cordial, easy manners of Tom Norwell. To 
good manners he joined the attractions of more than ordinary 
personal beauty. He was, or at least she thought he was, 
which amounted to the same thing, the ideal hero of whom 
she had long dreamed, but had never met among the farmer 
boys of Illinois. She worshiped him at once and with her 
whole soul, without the thought ever entering her head that 
such devotion might not be best for her. This feeling was 
not conscious love, it was simply admiration of an unattain- 
able object. But when this demi-god had smiled on her in 
return, and even asked for her company to the spelling school, 
she was supremely happy. It was bliss such as she had 
dreamed of, but never hoped to attain while she remained in 
her prairie home. She accepted his attentions for much more 
than they meant, and never thought of concealing the pleas- 
sure she felt in his company. 

No unmarried young man with any pretensions to culture 
can be insensible to the charms of an intelligent, refined 
young woman, especially when these attractions are com- 
bined with sufficient beauty. Tom Norwell naturally was 
interested in May Bryce while a guest in her father’s house. 


272 


AN IRON CROWN. 


He left, thinking of her occasionally as he would of any 
other lady friend met under similar circumstances. She, in 
her innocence of the world, had given him her heart at the 
very beginning. 

When Tom returned from Colorado he found May visit- 
ing with his sister. The former acquaintance was renewed 
with mutual pleasure. As the weeks passed, Tom began to 
think over the situation. He had not seen Chetta Ingledee 
as often lately as he did formerly. She was just as friendly 
as ever, and reproached him for his neglect of old acquaint- 
ances. But he was comparatively a poor man now, while 
she was still the wealthiest heiress in America. He felt that 
they could never again be the old friends they were before 
his misfortunes. He would never lay himself open to the 
imputation of fortune hunting. Then he could not bring 
himself to acknowledge that he had ever really loved Chetta. 
There was a something of assertiveness in her character 
which jarred on his notions of what the ideal wife should be. 
Soon he began by degrees to feel that he was rather fond of 
May Bryce. Perhaps, without really intending it, in a par- 
ticularly tender mood one evening as they promenaded a 
fashionable avenue he told his love and learned that it was 
returned. He told her frankly his financial circumstances 
and dwelt on the expense of living in New York. Her 
love was not marred by any disagreeable reflections on the 
subject of house rent or grocer’s bills. She was happy to 
know that she was loved. That was sufficient for the pres- 
ent. He told her they must not think of marrying for 
several years. Meantime, he asked her to tell the engage- 
ment to no one in New York. She cared nothing whether 
the betrothal was a secret or made public. >She was su- 
premely happy, and that was enough. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


A SURPRISE FOR THE HACKETTS, WITH THINGS BOTH PLEAS- 
ANT AND UNPLEASANT FOR MR. QUILL MALLEY. 

\ 

After due time the necessary legal steps had been taken, 
and the Norwells received the legacy bequeathed to them. 
Alice at once invested hers in bonds, where there could be no 
possible chance of loss. The six per cent, interest derived 
from her twenty-five thousand dollars would give her an 
ample income for a single woman of modest wants. She 
urged a like investment upon Tom, for she did not approve 
his feverish desire to get rich. He laughed at his sister’s ad- 
vice, saying that secure investment was the proper thing for 
women, but a man, by watching opportunities, could do 
much better with ready cash. 

On the evening of the day on which Tom’s money was 
finally placed to his account in the bank, he came home in 
fine spirits. Fortune had smiled on him at last. He hoped 
this slight relaxation of feature on the part of that capricious 
dame was a forerunner of the graciousness with which she 
regards her favorites. During the day he had drawn from 
the bank ten crisp one hundred dollar greenbacks. After 
dinner he took his hat about seven o’clock and strolled down 
town, saying to Alice he was going out to call on a friend. 
He went directly to the East side and soon found himself in 
Cardington street, where the Hacketts lived. Mounting the 
grimy, decayed stairway, he rapped at their door, which 
was opened by Mary. 

“ Oh, Mr. Nor well — come in. We’re ever so glad to 
see you.” The smile that lighted Mary’s thoughtful face 
and the sparkle in her eyes told plainly that her greeting was 
no idle compliment. 

u Good-evening, Mary,” said Tom, giving her hand a 
hearty shake. M How are you, Aunt Rhoda?” 

“ I’m kind o’ grunty, Mr. Tom,” said Aunt Rhoda, in a 
tone which implied that life is a very gay affair usually and that 
its levity must be toned down occasionally by the interjection 

is (273) 


2 74 


AN IRON CROWN. 


of lugubrious intervals as a sort of protest against excessive 
light-hearted ness. 

“ Old complaint?” said Tom. 

“ Yes,” said Aunt Rhoda, with a sigh that sounded the 
very depths of resigned and determined gruntiness. “ I’ll 
never get rid of it, I guess.” 

Now, the “ old complaint” was a medley of imaginary 
disorders, for which the medical fraternity, with all their 
marvelous resources of nomenclature, had no adequate name. 
Aunt Rhoda, in fact, enjoyed very good health for an old 
person, and beyond a little rheumatism and other trifling 
ailments, there was nothing the matter. Her condition was 
aptly described as grunty. It is a disease which never kills 
but works itself off for the time being in that pointless 
grumbling which seems to give as much satisfaction to the 
grumbler as it does annoyance to those who are compelled 
to listen. 

“ Aunt doesn’t feel very well. The damp weather af- 
fects her rheumatism. She’s getting along in years, you 
know.” 

u Gittin’ on in years ! Sixty-five isn’t gittin’ on at all. 
Mary, your grandfather, John Hackett, was nigh onto a hun- 
dred when he died. Wouldn’t ’a died then if he hadn’t 
caught a desperate cold that took him off sudden.” 

Soon the conversation was turned toward the departed 
member of the family. The two women plied Tom with 
questions concerning Little Hackett’s last illness, death and 
burial. They inquired into the most minute particulars 
after the strange fashion of certain people who love to dwell 
on the most trifling incidents connected with their dead. 
They asked about his sickness, his last words, his appearance 
before death, whether the corpse looked natural, how deep 
his grave was, the kind of coffin, the appearance of the 
burial place, the services, and in short, everything connected 
with the sad event. Tom answered all fully and patiently, 
for this was his first visit of any length since his return and 
he knew that this knowledge would serve to allay the grief 
of the sorrowing women and soften memory with the cer- 
tainty that all had been fittingly done. His thoughtful kind- 
ness was the debt of man to man. In all the ages of eternity 
there is only one second of equality and that is the open 
grave. Tom's own recent bereavement made him very 
patient of this sad inquisition into the last scenes of death. 


AN IRON CROW.N. 


2 75 


The man of the world met on equality with these simple- 
minded poor folks. They had all suffered, and all remem- 
bered. 

As Tom was about to depart he drew the ten new bills 
from his pocket and said : 

“Mary, here is the thousand dollars your brother invested 
with us. I succeeded in saving it, after all. Take it and 
loan it again.’’ Aunt Rhoda gave an exclamation of delight: 
“Oh, Mr. Tom, it’s rale good of you to take so much 
pains for poor bodies like us. But how did you manage it? 
We give it up for lost long ago.” 

“ Oh,” said Tom, evasively, “I couldn’t do much but just 
wait till everything was settled.” 

“Well, it’s dreadful good of you. I always said the 
Norwells weren’t the small kind to take advantage of poor 
folks if they could help it.” 

“Why, Auntie!” said Mary, hastily, “how absurdly you 
talk. Who ever said they would cheat anybody?” Mary 
followed Tom Norwell to the door and said in a low tone 
outside : 

“ Mr. Norwell, you didn’t get it back.” He was silent. 
She continued: “ We can’t take it this way.” 

“I’d rather you would. I advised Johnnie to invest and 
he lost.” 

“ It wasn’t your fault. He took his chances and lost. 
We can get along. I have mine yet, and my pay has been 
raised to ten dollars per week. Take it back,” and she 
handed him the bills. 

“ No, Mary, I will not take it back. Keep the money. 
You see I fell heir to a pretty snug sum and I’ve plenty. 
Take it to Hickley and he will loan it for you.” 

“ I’d rather not take it.” 

“If you don’t want to have a falling out with me, Mary, 
you’d better keep it,” — and with a laugh Tom went quickly 
down stairs. 

“ Mary, it seems to me it took you a pretty good spell to 
let Mr. Tom out.” 

“ Why, Aunty, I was only a minute.” 

“Landsakes! you was nearer five. Mary, I guess you 
be as sensible as most girls of your age. But it isn’t sensi- 
ble for a young girl to dally at the door with a young man, 
especially when he’s her betters.” Mary looked up with 
astonishment, and then quietly remarked: 


276 


AN IRON CROWN 


“ Auntie, I’m surprised.” 

“ I’m not. I’ve seen too much nonsense between boys 
and girls in my time. My father never allowed me to 
swing on the gate. People in Vermont thought anything 
proper to be said at all could be said in the settin’ room 
afore the old folks. Mary, you take care. Tom Norwell’s 
a handsome, spry young chap with takin’ ways, but I guess 
he don’t care nothin’ particler about you.” Mary’s cheeks 
were scarlet, which fortunately Aunt Rhoda could not see, 
for the young lady just then was searching industriously for 
a thimble in the little workbox on the shelf. She said 
quietly : 

“Aunty, I never thought he did.” 

On his way home, as Tom was emerging from a cross 
street near the Bowery, he caught sight of a sign over the 
way which read, “ Pipe Malley & Co., Dealers in Choice 
Fruits.” In his first moments of surprise, Tom hardly knew 
what to make of this unexpected apparition. Then he 
concluded that Chetta Ingledee must have set up her pupils 
in business. He crossed and took a look at their store. This 
emporium of commerce was not of large dimensions. It was 
situated in a shabby old brick building which had no great 
depth. The original store had been divided into two, leaving 
each perhaps ten feet front by thirty feet deep, the rear facing 
another street, being set off into a store running the other 
way. One of these narrow rooms was occupied by Pipe 
Malley & Co., the other by a shoemaker. Pipe came for- 
ward with his best manner to welcome the customer. He 
had noticed the bland smile and polite greeting of other shop- 
keepers, and was learning them himself, though for a day or 
two he felt a little disappointed at the results. His manner 
did not seem to impress customers greatly as yet. 

“ Wot’ 11 you have this evenin’, sir?” Pipe began. 

“ I just dropped in to see if you were a gentleman I used 
to know.” 

u Lemme see. Why, if you hain’t Mr. Norwell. You 
know some friends of mine, I guess. Glad ter see you.” 

Mr. Pipe Malley was clad in a coarse, ready-made suit of 
gray stuff. He wore whole shoes which had been carefully 
polished — by Quill — and a collar which had not been polished 
for several days. Altogether, he looked a very gentleman of 
fashion compared with what he had once been. Quill was 
behind the counter gaping at Tom, and mentally revolving 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 77 

what a rare opportunity that was of earning a dollar if 
“that duffer hadn’t gone and played him so mean.” That 
young gentleman was not so pretentiously arrayed as his twin 
brother. In this particular he could scarcely have asserted 
with any degree of confidence that “ he was twins too.” In 
fact, he wore a suit which his more fastidious counterpart had 
rejected as unfit to deck the person of the proprietor of a 
store. In addition to exceedingly rough usage, Quill’s cloth- 
ing had the disadvantage of being too small, Pipe himself, 
the year before, having found them very inconvenient in this 
respect. The pantaloons were considerably too short, and in 
conformity to the law of antagonism between trousers and 
hose, Quill’s socks persisted in settling down in wrinkles till 
they reposed comfortably on his shoe tops, leaving exposed a 
zone of very dirty ankle. Quill’s face matched his a’nkles, 
and his hands exceeded both in dirtiness, for he was con- 
stantly foraging among decayed oranges and moldy figs. 
Like some people of much more pretentious station, Quill 
was perhaps devouring articles liable to spoil in order to save 
them. A customer entered and asked for some figs. Though 
not a particularly fastidious-looking man himself, when he 
saw Quill burrowing among them with his dirty hands, he 
objected : 

“Young man, I think your hands are not very clean for 
the fruit business.” 

Pipe at once came forward. 

“ Quill, hain’t I give orders often enough that things must 
be kep’ clean. There’s no use tellin’ you anything. Go and 
wash them hands. No soap, ain’t they? Go out an’ git a 
cake.” Then he waited on the customer himself, and gave 
him his change with a polite bow. Pipe’s bow still twisted 
abnormally to the right, in spite of his efforts to make it con- 
form to the rectilinear popular standard. Like a tree that 
has been once bent, and still persists in lopping over under 
pressure of wind and rain, Pipe’s bow, which, on ordinary 
occasions was good enough, and improving with luxurious 
habits and associations, flew off on a tangent when he labored 
under some excitement. As Norwell was leaving, Pipe 
said : 

“Can’t you come agin, Mr. Norwell? If ye hain’t no 
reglar place o’ dealin’, try our establishment. Pipe Malley 
& Co. guarantees straight goods an’ prompt attention.” 

Extending such encouragement to the young merchant as 


278 


AN IRON CROWN. 


courtesy required, Tom bade Pipe good-evening. Just then 
Quill returned from an adjoining grocery with a bar of soap. 
Pipe was in a bad humor with Quill’s slovenly habits, which 
exhibited no improvement. 

“ Say, young feller,” he began, “wot do you mean by 
insultin’ of customers that way? If you don’t look out you’ll 
be huntin’ another situation some fine day, you will.” 

“ I wasn’t doin’ nothin’. Kin I help it if fellers comes 
inter the store in a bad humor and begins to growl?” 

“Oh, you wasn’t doin’ nothin’, eh? No, nothin’ but eatin’ 
figs an’ daubin’ ’em on yer face. Yer eatin’ yer head off 
every day. It’s got to be stopped.” 

u Well, ’spose a customer kicks. Kin I help it? Tain’t 
fair. If I ain’t a partner, ain’t I twins too?” 

“ Mind yer that customer wasn’t kickin’ at the goods. He 
was kickin’ at the clerk. A customer’s got a right to kick at 
the clerk. An’ look at them socks! Down again! Quill, 
pull up them socks.” The order was obeyed in silence. 
“ Now come back here an’ wash that dirty mug o’ vourn. 
I’ll boss the job, I guess, myself. Durn it all, Quill, ye don’t 
know the fust principles o’ washin’ yer face. Fill that basin 
with water.” The order was obeved with reluctance. “Now 
peel off the kiver of that cake o’ soap.” This operation was 
performed very slowly. Quill now fully realized that this 
was a crisis in his toilet experiences, the like of which had 
never occurred before. He glanced at Pipe’s face in mute 
appeal, but that business-like individual was inflexible. “ Git 
ready. Now wen I says soap , you rub some all over yer 
hands an’ face. If they hain’t enough on, I’ll keep sayin’ soap 
till there is enough. Wen I say lather , you rub till vou 
make shavin’ lather all over yer hands an’ face, and pertick- 
ler them ears, for they need it awful. Ready! Soap!” 
Reluctantly the cleansing compound was applied very spar- 
ingly. “Soap!” again fell relentlessly on Quill’s ears. Again 
soap it was, but Quill had never seemed more economically 
inclined. He was about to lay down the bar, preparatory to 
the second step in the operation. The odious word “ soap” 
was heard a third time, accompanied by the observation: 

“ It’ll take a heap of it to git through that crust.” 

“ It’s gittin’ in my eyes.” 

“’Twon’t hurt ’em. Shut ’em. They’ll feel lots better 
wen you git it out.” 

This time the slippery compound slid into unexplored 


AN IRON CROWN. 


279 

spots which it had never before visited. Pipe was satisfied, 
and called “lather” Quill began to rub his face in a care- 
less, streaky sort of way. “ Don’t fool, rub hard, an’ make it 
froth.” Quill rubbed and winced, and catching his breath, 
got some soapsuds in his mouth that nearly strangled him, 
but the only reply to all his distress was, “ Chip in ’s if ye 
meant business. Rub hard an’ none o’ your monkeyin’.” 
After more friction and a great deal of coughing and making 
of faces on the part of Quill, Pipe called, “ Rench it off now.” 
Quill was only too glad to “rench” it off, and the rinsing 
process revealed a face which shone under the combined 
effects of soap and friction like a boiled lobster. 

“Now wipe her off, and yer all O K. Humph! yer 
mother wouldn’t know ye. Ye wouldn’t knowyerself fur that 
matter, if ye met yerself in a strange alley. This yer is 
only a kind of first base. If I ever ketch you round here 
scarin’ away customers agin with yer dirty face, we’ll make 
a home run on the soap an’ water business. Now git in the 
stuff from the sidewalk,” saying which, Mr. Pipe Malley 
proceeded to reckon up the day’s receipts. 

Before going home, the twins usually strolled some dis- 
tance along the Bowery diverting themselves, as a means of 
relaxation from the cares of business, with the varied sights 
to be witnessed there at night. As Broadway represents the 
respectable and commercial elements of the metropolis, so the 
Bowery represents the lower and more numerous elements of 
the social organization. Broadway surges with a living tide 
all day. At night the Bowery, brilliantly lighted, is thronged 
with people. The retail shops are open, concert saloons, 
cheap places of amusement, restaurants, oyster houses, fruit 
stands, and sidewalk merchants all have their patrons. 
Thousands of people are in the street, consisting of the inhab- 
itants of that region, strangers seeing New York, clerks, 
gamblers, harlots, thieves, sailors, boot-blacks, and a miscel- 
lany hard to classify. For the student of human nature it is 
a rich field. Here is a man who sells nothing but oysters, 
raw or roasted, another who deals exclusively in boiled green 
corn -with pepper and salt, and by his side, a merchant who 
vends nothing but combs. Here is a retail store with customers 
coming and going, by its side is a saloon ablaze with light, 
and the liveliest tunes of music going incessantly. Many a 
young man enters its doors carelessly and takes a glass of beer. 
Next time, perhaps, he has a taste for the beverage, on the 


28 o 


AN IRON CROWN. 


third visit he may consume several glasses along with hilari- 
ous friends, and the appetite rapidly grows. This young man 
may be separated only ten or twenty years from the trembling, 
besotted old tramp, who begs in rags for a nickel, under pre- 
tense of hunger, only to spend it in drink. 

Here too, is the young man from the country, perhaps not 
so very young, who is bent on seeing the sights since he is 
away from 'the restrictions of home. He is lucky if he does 
not end by being drugged and robbed or murdered in some 
low dive. He gets into trouble because he goes where 
trouble is, instead of going to a respectable place of amuse- 
ment, or quietly staying in his hotel. His experience is 
bought very dearly, and unfortunately cannot teach his neigh- 
bors by its example. 

Horace Roker sometimes staid down town with one or 
two friends instead of going to his fashionable boarding house 
for dinner. On such occasions the party had various means 
of spending the evening. Sometimes they strolled along the 
Bowery, curiously studying the motley throng. 

Since Roker had seen Tom Norwell once or twice in the 
same locality, he sometimes strolled there himself. On the 
present occasion, he had, by chance, seen Tom leave Pipe 
Malley & Co.’s store. He carelessly passed the place, and 
observing Quill inside, at once recognized him. 

Wondering at this sudden rise in the world of his former 
acquaintance, he determined to use him again in discovering 
Tom’s motive for visiting this region. Norwell must come 
here with a purpose. He most likely visited some one, and, 
naturally, that one must be a woman, Roker thought. 
Sauntering around the block, Roker soon had the satisfaction 
of seeing the boys close the store for the night. Taking the 
other side of the street, he crossed, and turning, met Quill, 
who was a little distance behind. Passing them he beckoned 
Quill to stop, as Pipe turned into the Bowery out of sight. 

“ I want you,” Roker said sternly to Quill. Roker was 
thoroughly skilled in reading human nature. He had learned 
on their first acquaintance, that it was very easy to manage 
Quill through his abject cowardice, and general want of self- 
assertive qualities. 

“ I think it ain’t fair; can’t you let up on a feller?” Quill 
had a lively apprehension that Roker knew all about his trans- 
actions with the cannel coal-yard, or similar operations at 
market stalls. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


28 l 


“ I’ll not be very hard on you if you will do as I ask you, 
and never lie to me.” 

“ Mister, I never lied to yer.” 

“You and your brother have a fruit store?” 

“ Yes sir.” 

“Are you one of the firm ? ” 

“Wot?” 

“Are you a partner?” 

“ No. Pipe says I must work onto a salary of three dol- 
lars a week till I learns the biz. Tain’t fair though, fur I’m 
a twin same as he is.” 

“ Who is the Company? ” 

“ Wot Company ? ” + 

“Why your sign reads Pipe Malley & Co.” 

“ I never seed any company. Guess they put that on to 
fill up the board.” 

“ Mr. Nor well stopped at your place to-night .’ 9 
“ Who said he didn’t? ” 

“ What did he want? ” 

“ Nothin’ partickler.” 

“Next time he comes find out where he goes.” 

“ Wot’s it worth, Mr. Roker?” 

“It isn’t worth anything in particular, but then I’ll make 
it a dollar.” 

“ Say Mister, couldn’t you make it two dollars. It’s a 
good ways up to the Park, an’ when a feller’s in a store” — 
“You little scamp,” said Roker, with a scowl that fri ght- 
ened Quill as he observed the twitching of the man’s scalp 
below his hard, stiff hat, “ never mention two dollars to 
me again, or I’ll.” Vague penalties are always worse in antic- 
ipation than those more specific in appearance. A flogging 
is usually not half so bad as the thought of it. So Roker in- 
voked the aid of uncertainty to chastise the presumption of 
the twin, whose imagination was free to range over the whole 
field of dire possibilities, “Same place; same way as before. 
Mind you don’t forget.” 

“ I ain’t the forgittin’ kind.” 

Roker sauntered up street musing. Knowing Chetta 
Ingledee’s frank, generous disposition, he felt sure she would 
never forgive deceit in a lover. If Tom Nor well could only 
be detected in some disreputable love affair, especially with 
some one far beneath him in social standing, he felt sure that 
Chetta would scorn him even if it tore her heartstrings. She 


282 


AN IRON CROWN. 


would marry an icicle without a spark of human passion, 
rather than a warm-hearted man who had grossly outraged 
her notions of propriety. So reasoned Roker. His premises 
were sound, his conclusion logical, but love is above logic. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A DISAGREEABLE REVELATION. THE FEASIBILITY OF A 

VILLA ON THE HUDSON. 

Miss Ingledee counted on having Tom Norwell for an 
active society ally as he always had been. But somehow 
Tom’s calls grew fewer and fewer. He did not seem to exhibit 
a particle of enthusiasm while she disclosed her plans to him 
as her confidential adviser. On one occasion when Miss 
Ingledee, Miss Harrie Snicker and Tom had been called in 
council over a proposed opera party, Tom’s indifference 
amounted almost to rudeness, and Chetta plainly told him so. 

“ Mr. Norwell, I think since you have been out West 
among those savages you have become almost a savage 
yourself.” 

u I’m not dangerous, at any rate,” replied Tom laughing. 

You are just spoiled entirely. It’s too bad.” 

“ I think it’s real mean,” pouted Miss Snicker. “ To think 
of those horrid miners who never come above ground for 
years. I wish they’d stay down there forever. They must 
be dreadful common.” 

Tom replied that the Western miner was by no means 
common except in the sense of abundant. I11 fact, he was a 
most uncommon production of nature and well worthy a de- 
scription by the naturalist. 

After his departure Miss Snicker suggested that probably 
Tom Norwell held back because his sister could not afford to 
dress well enough to enter society. For her part she thought 
people who couldn’t afford to go into society ought to keep 
out of it. Beggars shouldn't try to hold up their heads with 
other people. “ Other people ” with Miss Snicker, was 
synonymous with millionaires. Chetta had a more plausible 
guess which she kept to herself. Tom Norwell was to her a 
high-spirited, sensitive man who, now that he was poor, would 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2S3 

not aspire to the hand of an heiress, because he might be 
charged with the despicable motive of fortune hunting. 
Chetta had so long nourished the habit of regarding Tom 
as a lover, that it never occurred to her to consider him in any 
other light, though he had never spoken directly of love. If 
he hesitated he must be encouraged. Then she was angry at 
the apparently absurd custom which renders it impossible for 
a woman to speak her love first. She said to herself, u Here 
I must sit like a painted doll in a toy shop to be admired and 
perhaps selected bv some man. Any marked preference 
shown by me to a gentleman would be unwomanly. I hate 
such stupid customs.” 

In pursuance of her plan of mild encouragement Tom 
was invited to dinner. Mr. Ingledee was in a most affable 
and condescending mood. Evidently there was no objection 
on his part. Silas too, had consented to contribute a small 
portion of his very much occupied time and lend his presence 
to the occasion. He knew how to be a gentleman. He was 
greatly pleased with an account of Tom’s Western experi- 
ences and in turn did his best to entertain. It was evident 
that Tom Norwell stood well with the Ingledees. Pater- 
familias even talked almost confidentially concerning some of 
his great stock operations, though doubtless what he re- 
vealed was of small moment compared with what he kept 
back. He offered to supply Tom with “pointers” whenever 
he chose to deal. What greater mark of esteem could a rail- 
way king offer? 

After Tom’s departure Chetta and Silas sat idly talking 
for a few minutes before the latter started to fulfil an appoint- 
ment. Chetta remarked that Tom Norwell seemed changed 
of late. After listening to details for some time, Silas inter- 
rupted her: 

“ Chet, don’t you know what the trouble is?” 

“ No. What is it? ” 

“He’s got another girl.” 

“ Oh, of course every young gentleman is acquainted with 
a great many young ladies,” said Chetta, trying to appear 
indifferent. 

“ Quite true, sister; but they are better acquainted with 
some than with others.” Silas looked at his watch, rose, and 
left the room. It was nearly eleven o’clock, but this gay 
young man was just starting out to begin the evening. 

Chetta sat alone for some time in profound thought. The 


284 


AN IRON CROWN. 


brilliant glare of the gaslight struggled through the rare lace 
curtains and closed blinds of the deep plate-glass windows, 
or lost its aggressive whiteness as it softened down amid the 
intricate patterns of the rich gold paper on the wall, or the 
many-hued tints of the frescoes on the ceiling. Indulging its 
strange propensities, this unnatural offspring of sunlight 
played strange freaks with the colors, so that green could 
scarcely be distinguished from blue, or yellow from orange. 
A costly French clock on the mantel shelf, resplendent in 
gold and ebony, ticked in low, musical tones that seemed like 
the echoing notes of a hidden fairy. Still the girl sat on a 
low chair with her head on her hand thinking. The flood of 
gaslight poured through the wide doors in the hallway. It 
flickered on the polished surfaces of the statuary and bronzes 
and the yellow marble posts that ended the balustrade, and 
crept up the smooth marble hand rail, dying away like the 
vanishing trail of a distant meteor. Still the girl sat, wrapped 
in thought. The sweet music of the clock striking eleven 
failed to arouse her. Carriages passed returning from theaters, 
but she did not hear them. A portrait of her mother looked 
from a massive gold frame. It was very like the daughter, 
except that the lady was older and had a thoughtful expres- 
sion, as if the original had never found complete happiness in 
life. Now the face almost seemed to assume a quickened, ap- 
prehensive interest, as if the disembodied spirit looked out of 
the canvas in thoughtful solicitude for that child, who was un- 
conscious of her presence. A shade it must have been, intang- 
ible to any human sense, if indeed the departed ever revisit us 
except as a dim stirring of our memory. 

The watchman was heard going his rounds trying the 
doors to see if they were securely fastened. But Clietta 
Ingledee did not hear him. It apparently devolved on the 
flooding light to arouse her, since the carriages, the clock, 
and the heavy tramping of the watchman had successively 
failed. The streaming light seemed to redouble its brilliancy 
as it often does when we all at once become conscious of its 
presence. The rushing jets leaped in a dizzy whirl from the 
tiny orifices as they strove to escape fast enough. The flood 
of light rippled over the fair neck and got tangled and lost in 
the dark masses of hair. It tried again and outdid all pre- 
vious efforts with no success. The gold on the picture frames, 
on the gasaliers, on the clock — indeed, there was gold pretty 
much everywhere — sparkled with dazzling magnificence un- 


AN IRON CROWN. * 


2S5 

der the blinding profusion of light. It was all in vain. This 
woman had no eye for gold. For the first time in her life 
she wanted something gold cannot buy — love. Her beauti- 
ful dream so long indulged, was rudely dispelled by a sudden 
awakening. As she sat there, trying to think in an incoher- 
ent way, vainly attempting to restore its fragments to shape- 
liness, this heiress of millions was no more potent over cir- 
cumstances than the country girl in the calico gown, who by 
the light of a dingy oil lamp ponders the sad fact that her 
lover is untrue. Both are simply women. 

Carriages passed with increasing frequency, but they 
failed to arouse this lonely woman sitting amid Fifth Avenue 
splendors, oblivious to everything except the danger of losing 
her lover. It was now the turn of the clock to make another 
effort to recall its mistress to the fact that time runs forever 
the same, whether its course is by the bier or the bridal altar. 
The efforts of this sil very-toned clock were about as absurd 
as would be the attempt of the canary to usurp the place of 
chanticleer and try to wake the family by crowing. The clock 
braced up to its work with a great deal of business-like bustle, 
such as is displayed by a little man unconscious of inferiority, 
and hammered out the hour of twelve, prolonging and em- 
phasizing the job as much as possible. The last stroke seemed 
to say, “ See there now! I’ve done it! ” The girl raised her 
head greatly to the surprise of the clock, which now reflected 
back the rays of light from the gas jets with contemptuous 
indifference, and took all the credit to itself, after the fashion 
of the aforesaid little man (small either physically or men- 
tally) whose every action is continually saying, “ There now, 
if you’ll allow me, I did that.” 

w Can he be so base? No, I’ll not reproach him, for he 
has made no vows. Can he be so blind as not to see I love 
him? No, Tom is not stupid. Some woman,” she said, with 
sudden energy, “ has won him by her wiles. Who is it that 
presumes to cut asunder two lives of love?” Then, with an 
impulsive vehemence, she went on, “ I’ll not give him up. He 
has always been mine. What is life without him? He shall 
yet be mine, in spite of her.” Chetta disappeared up the 
broad stairway, and a servant, with noiseless tread, extin- 
guished the lights in the parlors, and the great house sheltered 
another disappointment. 

The Norwells lived in a snug little flat of five or six rooms, 
in a genteel street well up town. On this same evening a 


286 


AN IRON CROWN. 


very different scene took place in their cosy little parlor. 
May Bryce had come to town to spend a few weeks. Tom 
announced at lunch that he should not be home to dinner. 
The women after dinner sat chatting pleasantly. They were 
already well acquainted, and treated each other almost like sis- 
ters. This secretly pleased Tom. He could never quite for- 
give Alice because she had taken a dislike to Chetta Ingledee, 
at a time when the sister thought her brother’s intentions in 
that direction were serious. On this one point Alice Norwell 
had held notions somewhat at variance with her established 
reputation for possessing an extra amount of common sense. 
But then it would perhaps be asking too much of the sex to 
hope that one woman might be entirely indifferent when the 
job in hand is the marrying off of another woman, particu- 
larly when woman number two is about to marry a relative 
of woman number one. As yet Alice, of course, knew noth- 
ing about the relations existing between her brother and her 
guest. To suppose she had no opinions on the subject would 
be contrary to reason. May was assiduously cultivating the 
good graces of this wise young lady, who might make an ex- 
cellent sister-in-law or a very distant relation by marriage, as 
the case might be. 

“Miss Norwell, I wish you could come out West next 
summer and visit us.” 

“ I should be delighted to do so. I have never seen the 
prairies. It must be worth a journey of a thousand miles just 
to see them.” 

“ Yes, they’re very pretty in the spring, but we don’t think 
much of them.” 

“ That is so strange. I could live there always, I think. 
The broad landscape must look charming when everything is 
green and blooming.” 

“The country itself is pretty enough, but the people are 
not so interesting as in the city. They are not so intelligent, 
and have to talk mostly about the crops and the stock.” 

“ City people are not all intelligent, May.” 

“ Oh, I know that, but many of them are, and one can 
choose, you know.” 

Then she thought of her own choice, and was very happy 
that her ideal hero had come, and had not only come but in- 
tended to marry her. 

“ What do you think of Mr. Fred Snicker?” 

“ Which, that fragile gentleman with the little turn-up 

nose?” 


AN IRON CROWN 287 

“ The same. He ought to be labeled, ‘ Don’t crush,’ as 
wholesale milliners mark their packages.” 

“ He’s very polite. I don’t think he could be very bad if 
he tried. But then I’ve noticed everybody is polite in the 
city.” 

u Yes, to your face.” 

“ Do these polite people talk about you behind your back? 
I thought it was only ill bred, ignorant people who did that.” 

“ Some of them do. Fine clothes and fine manners never 
changed human nature much.” May’s nature was so tender 
that she would not intentionally hurt the feelings of any one; 
she could not understand how others could do so, hence her 
trust in human nature was equal to her own kindness of heart. 
She was surprised at Alice’s cold, matter of fact reply. 

“ Why, how can they?” 

“ Oh, backbiting comes natural to some people. But Fred 
Snicker said a very pretty thing about you the other evening. 
Shall I tell you?” May blushed, and waited with pleased ex- 
pectation to hear the pretty thing. Compliments well turned 
are always agreeable, and flattery is a sweet incense to the 
god Vanity. All of us have some time bowed at his shrine, 
only for some of us, his officiating priest must be a person of 
wonderful parts. 

“ I overheard him say to a gentleman friend, i That 
Pwayweh Floweh is a deuced pwetty bud.’” Alice imitated 
young Snicker’s tone and manner so perfectly that her friend 
was convulsed with laughter. Recovering, she said: 

“ What a silly fellow he is.” The god Vanity had found 
another secret worshiper, for May was not displeased with the 
poetical appellation thus bestowed upon her by an effusive 
admirer. Just then Tom came home. He had excused him- 
self from Ingledee’s at the earliest moment consistent with 
good breeding. Alice owed a call to a neighbor in an ad- 
joining flat who was very sick. She suddenly remembered 
that she had not visited the woman all day. Perhaps there 
was something she might be able to do, and as it was not yet 
late, she excused herself for a few minutes and called on the 
sick woman. 

May was supremely happy when Tom was present. The 
last few weeks had been the happiest moments of her life, 
though she had never known a sorrow or care. W as not this 
incomparable specimen of manhood all her own to have and 
keep till death parted them ? She was one of the most for* 


288 


AN IRON CROWN. 


tunate of women. Her letters to her parents overflowed with 
exuberance of joy. Far different were her feelings from those 
of the lone woman in the splendid parlor on Fifth avenue. 
This one sat in the full noontide of hope, that in the uncertain 
twilight of threatened disaster. And what a difference in the 
women! The fair-haired woman before us is full of trust and 
tender helplessness that ever leans on others. She is tender 
and true, but not bold to stand forth and push her claims to a 
successful issue. Keenly sensitive to wrong, and resenting it, 
but unable in childish ignorance of human nature to wield 
skillfully the weapons of self-defense. The other, the dark- 
haired woman, is frank, generous and loving. But her bold, 
impetuous nature will brook no interference. She is quick to 
perceive wrong and able to redress it. Naturally magnani- 
mous, she is capable of quick retaliation on a foe whom she 
imagines may have taken a base advantage of her. Forgiv- 
ing to the vanquished, she has no mercy for the adversary 
in arms. 

May Bryce’s love was of the perfect kind that sees nothing 
lacking in the beloved one. For Tom Norwell she lived, and 
all other considerations of life were secondary to her love for 
him. In her inexperience and perfect trust she thought his love 
must be like her own except possibly that, having other in- 
terests to look after, a man’s mind must occasionally be 
diverted from the main object of life, which for her was to 
love. When left alone the lovers would naturally be ex- 
pected to become more communicative and confidential. But 
to-night the polarity of love was unbalanced, for May did 
most of the talking. Norwell seemed rather thoughtful and 
absent-minded. In truth, his visit to the Ingledees had set him 
to thinking. He had been off with the old love, and on with 
the new rather suddenly. It occurred to him that perhaps a 
trifle less haste might have been better. He was not conscious 
of any unfair dealing, nor did his second thought rate less 
highly the worth of the tender woman at his side, but Chetta 
Ingledee had been a life-long, loyal friend. She had been a 
friend, such as few men have the good fortune to appropriate 
so thoroughly as he had appropriated her. Had he made a 
proper return? She could find no fault if he chose another, 
still he lacked the courage to let her know how matters now 
stood with him. This cowardice suggested a middle course 
which was really most dangerous. His engagement with 
May must remain a secret, while he would still associate as a 


AN IRON CROWN. 


289 


friend with a woman who had a right to expect that further 
intimacy would end in a declaration of love. May found the 
conversation lagging in spite of her best efforts. Finally she 
asked Tom why he was so solemn. 

“I’m not solemn. A person would not look well always 
laughing and trying to be funny.” 

“ Yes, but you are dreadful poky to-night. You are not 
a bit like what you were when you visited us in Illinois.” 

“ Then I was on a vacation and had laid in an extra sup- 
ply of jokes. My wit was all bottled under pressure and 
ready to fizz as soon as the cork was drawn. I had a full 
assortment of laughs and smiles of all sizes and shades.” 

“And don’t you keep good humor constantly in stock, 
you base deceiver?” 

“ No, the assortment must get low sometimes. It’s bound 
to. But you are jolly enough to-night for both of us, little 
girl,” said Tom quietly, placing his hand over hers. “ What 
did you see to-day?” 

“Alice and I went shopping. What lots of fine things 
they do have in the stores. It’s better than any show to see 
them.” 

“ Better than Barnum’s? ” 

“You teasing thing. You know what I meant. I mean 
those things in the shops are so pretty that I want to buy them 
all if I could.” 

“ M ay , you are learning the ways of a city woman very fast.” 

“ Oh, but I didn’t buy anything expensive, though my . 
aunt made me a present of a fifty dollar bill just before I 
started. I’m trying to be economical, because you see I’m 
going to be the wife of a poor man, and must wait till he 
makes enough money to marry.” 

“ He’ll no longer be poor when he gets you, little girl. 

You are worth your weight” 

“ Tom, don’t be foolish. I’m not worth my weight in 
gold at all, and you know it. I’m only just a woman who 
will need so much to eat and so much to wear everyday, and 
— and I’m afraid I can’t do much to earn it, either. I could 
in the country, but the city is so strange I can’t understand it 
at all. Tom, where do city people get so much money?” 

“ Some of them inherit it, some make it, some cheat others 
out of it.” 

“ It’s so queer to see everybody paying money for every- 
thing.” 


19 


290 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ They wouldn’t get things if they didn’t pay.” 

“ I don’t think I should like the city a bit. I wish we 
could have a pretty place up the Hudson.” Tom opened his 
eyes very wide. “ One of those queer cottages with corners 
all over them wouldn’t cost much, would it?” 

“ Oh, a mere trifle. When we are millionaires we shall 
have such a place, May.” 

“ Why, they don’t look as if they would cost much.” 

“But they cost a mint, just the same, with an estab- 
lishment.” 

“ Then let’s leave the hateful old city, Tom, and go to 
the country where we can be all to ourselves and be happy 
on a little.” 

“ Is ourselves synonymous with little ?” 

“ Now if that’s the sort of jokes you keep sorted and 
ready for emergencies, Tom, please let the stock get low. 
But don’t you know, — I am thinking all the time of where 
we shall live. Aren’t you?” This question rather startled 
him. Then she was thinking daily, hourly of their future 
life, while he had considered it yet too far off to deserve 
any special thought at all. The contrast jarred disagreeably 
on him, for he was no slow-witted man who had neglected 
this subject for want of appreciation. He tried to turn the 
subject without letting her discover the real state of his 
feelings. 

“ So in your frequent cogitations you evolved the villa on 
the Hudson, eh?” 

“ I think it’s not fair for you to be poking fun at me,” she 
replied, with a pout of her red lips. Just then Alice entered, 
and the conversation took a new turn. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


TWO YOUNG LADIES BECOME ACQUAINTED WHOSE HIS- 
TORY IS HEREAFTER CONNECTED IN MOST IMPORTANT 

EVENTS. MR. QUILL MALLEY TRANSACTS FURTHER 

BUSINESS WITH MR. HORACE ROKER, AND THE LAT- 
TER BECOMES CONFIDENTIAL WITH MR. INGLEDEE. 

A few days later, on a sunny afternoon, Tom Norwell, 
his sister Alice, and May Bryce determined to attend a mat- 
inee performance at one of the theatres, where a foreign 
actress of world-wide reputation was playing an engagement. 
As it was a beautiful day, and the distance not great, the 
party concluded to start early and walk. Sauntering past a 
florist’s shop in Union Square, Norwell suddenly conceived 
the notion of buying some flowers. The three entered the 
shop for that purpose. To their surprise, the Norwells recog- 
nized there an old friend. The well-dressed lady standing at 
the counter waiting to be served, proved to be Miss Ingledee. 
She greeted the Norwells, and paused as she saw there was a 
stranger with them. Her manner indicated that she expected 
an introduction as she glanced at May Bryce. Norwell did 
not seem in any hurry to take the hint till he saw plainly 
that it was expected, then he said with a careless, easy grace: 
“ Miss Ingledee, allow me to present Miss Bryce; a friend 
visiting my sister,” he added, by way of explanation. 

Chetta Ingledee greeted this strange lady with perhaps a 
trifle more reserve than was her wont. She scrutinized May 
for some seconds, as if taking a rapid mental inventory of the 
girl’s make-up, then recollecting that such conduct bordered 
on rudeness, she said pleasantly: 

u Your first visit to the city, Miss Bryce?” 

May answered “ Yes,” a little surprised that everybody 
should at once take it for granted that she was from the 
country. She scarcely comprehended that she lacked the 
urban manner which is only acquired by long residence in a 
city. As the two shop girls were busy with customers, and 

( 2 9 J ) 


292 


AN IRON CROWN. 


the later arrivals would have to wait a few minutes, they all 
took seats and entered into conversation. Miss Ingledee’s eye 
continually wandered to May, and dwelt there as long as 
good breeding would allow. To her this delicate-complex- 
ioned country girl was a subject of great interest. Perhaps 
this was the lady whom Silas had referred to by the indefinite 
term, “another girl.” She furtively watched Tom Norwell, 
but he betrayed no unusual interest in Miss Bryce. He 
seemed in a good humor, and talked a great deal about the 
foreign actress whose name was then in everybody’s mouth. 
Meanwhile he industriously traced figures with his cane on 
the tiles of the floor. The women did not seem to maintain 
a fro rata share of the conversation, seeing they were in a 
majority of three to one. 

“How do you like New York, Miss Bryce?” said Chetta. 

“Pm delighted with it so far. There’s something new to 
be seen every day.” 

“ I dare say,” was the reply in a non-committal tone that 
might have conveyed either of two very different ideas; first, 
that any person, if so disposed, might see something new in 
New York every day; second, that only a very unsophisti- 
cated person could discover anything new for any continued 
period of time. On the hypothesis that language was made 
to conceal ideas, this little remark was a great conversational 
success. 

The flowers were finally purchased, and as the party were 
separating, Chetta invited Alice Norwell and Miss Bryce to 
call, adding, however, that she believed Miss Norwell already 
owed her a call. Alice Norwell excused herself by means of 
one of those pleasant little fictions which ladies know how to 
contrive for such occasions, and which the recipient knows 
perfectly well how to value at its true worth, and hoped she 
could find it convenient soon to repay the outstanding 
obligation. 

As Tom Norwell passed out of the door, leading the party 
of three ladies, Mr. Quill Malley happened along, carrying 
a large basket. In the absence of a delivery wagon, Quill 
was obliged to carry fruit to a few regular customers. This 
employment abstracted his attention for the time being, from 
the figs, and thus in addition to the advantages derived from 
active exercise, gave his digestive organs a brief interval of 
rest. Pipe, with a practical view of business, in which Quill 
scarcely coincided, called this “learning the business.” “Ye 


AN IRON CROWN. 293 

got to learn the business, Quill, afore ye kin be a partner. I 
don’t take in no green partners.” 

That evening early Quill had a delivery to make well up 
town and it occurred to him that by pretending to protract the 
business as much as possible he might have time to call on 
Mr. Roker. “ It hain’t nothin’, his goin’ with my Sunday 
school teacher,” mused Quill, “ fur he’s always doin’ that, 
but mebbe that strange gal with yaller hair may be a piece of 
news for that rooster with the loose forrid. I’ll work him 
fur a dollar, if the news ain't no count.” 

Revolving in his mind the thrifty determination “to work 
the rooster with the loose forrid for a dollar,” Quill M alley 
found himself entering Blank street just as Mr. Horace 
Roker emerged from his fashionable and very select board- 
ing house. That gentleman was starting out for his even- 
ing stroll, which usually brought him to the Argosy Club or 
to some other genteel resort when he had no special engage- 
ment. Roker was faultlessly dressed. His dark-colored, 
cutaway, frock coat fitted his handsome form without a 
wrinkle, almost as smoothly as a mole skin on the back of 
its plump little owner. His large glossy cuffs showed prom- 
inently below the sleeves of his coat. His cuff buttons con- 
sisted of a single alligator’s tooth of exquisite polish set in 
plain gold. They had been presented by a friend who spent 
his winters in Florida. Roker’s collar was immaculate. 
His flowered silk tie was a dainty product of high art in the 
furnishing goods line. His boots exhibited the perfection of 
the polishing art. He carried a twisted cane and was just 
lighting a choice Havana cigar. As he brought the match 
toward his mouth the smoothness of his spotless cuffs seemed 
in keeping with the smoothness of his well-shaven face and 
pale complexion. The glistening alligator’s tooth scarcely 
excelled in whiteness the regular, clean teeth of the exceed- 
ingly well-kept mouth. Somehow one almost expected that 
the proximity of this glistening ivory would provoke a bel- 
ligerent showing of the other teeth such as occurs when there 
is a difference of opinion between the family cat and the dog. 
There seemed, however, to be a perfect amity between them, 
and as the bloodless, nervous lips opened to receive the 
fragrant weed they wore an expression of self-complacency, 
which was the nearest they ever approached to a genuine 
smile. 

Quill Malley instinctively admitted that this fine-looking 


2 94 


AN IRON CROWN. 


biped whom he had irreverently dubbed a rooster, must be a 
game cock if anything. Quill would probably not have 
been surprised to have discovered a sharp spur concealed un- 
der the well-fitting broadcloth pantaloons. He shrank back 
and hesitated to state his business, for he was thoroughly 
afraid of Roker. The latter turned into a narrow little side 
street and beckoned Quill to follow. Once out of sight of 
the open street, he began: 

“ What are you hanging around here for?” 
u Got sumthin’ to tell you,” replied Quill, keeping a dis- 
tance of a few feet. 

“ Then why don’t you tell it?” 

“ I seen Mr. Norwell this afternoon. He’s sweet on three 
girls.” 

“ Is that all ?” 

“ Mebbe he ain’t sweet on but two of ’em. I clunno.” 
u What are they like?” 

“ One’s my Sunday school teacher, Miss Ingledee.” 

“ Do you think that amounts to anything?” said Roker, 
with a savage growl that made Quill start. 

“ Can’t you let a feller git done? Another’s tall an’ has 
brown hair, an’ brown eyes that sparkles, an’ looks right 
into a feller, an hain’t no foolishness 'about her.” 

“Humph! that’s Norwell’s sister.” 

“ Totherun’s not quite so tall an’ has yaller hair an’ rosy 
cheeks. Blame me, if she ain’t as purty as a nactress in a 
winder.” 

“ Have you ever seen him with any woman alone down 
town anywhere?” 
u No, sir.” 

“If you see him with anybody — any woman — watch 
where he goes, and let me know.” Then Mr. Roker cut the 
interview short by throwing Quill a dollar, and remarking: 
“ Now go,” sauntered toward Broadway. 

At the Argosy Club members were coming and going as 
usual. Some read, a few wrote, others lounged in easy 
chairs in groups smoking and talking politics, the markets, or 
current events. Anions' others might be seen Tom Nor- 

o o 

well and Silas Ingledee puffing away lazily at irregular in- 
tervals. These gentlemen were seldom seen together, al- 
though the former had at all times been so friendly with the 
family of the latter. They really had nothing in common. 
Norwell had a deep-seated disgust toward the dissipations 


AN IKON CROWN. 


3 95 


and fast amusements pursued by young Ingledee and his set. 
He had no patience with the man, but had his own reasons 
for keeping up at least the appearance of friendship. Silas 
began to show the effects of his dissipation. Wine, late 
hours, late suppers and other excesses had begun to tell on 
this young man, who was not yet twenty-three. His habits 
were rapidly sapping his nervous vitality. 

Mr. Ingledee had attempted in vain to stay Silas in that 
wild career which could have but one ending — inevitable 
ruin. With anguish, which words may not describe, the 
father saw his son and only hope sink day by day into that 
loathsome gulf whence the bravest and strongest may never 
hope to climb to the full Height of purity. This insolent 
money king, who was almost the arbiter of finances and 
commerce for those unfortunate sections of the country where 
his railroads had no rivals, had at last met a foe who proved 
more than his match. Sin snatched his cherished boy, his 
most precious possession, compared with which all the rest 
was nothing, away from him, and mocked his feeble remon- 
strances. At this court he was a humble and unsuccessful 
suppliant, aided by no complaisant judge or purchasable juror 
ready to do the bidding of a moneycrat. Ingledee had 
thought that possibly every young man reared in a city must 
sow a few wild oats. In his own simple country life no such 
hazardous planting had been thought of, nor would it have 
been tolerated by his stern father. He indulged the illusion 
that the young man would get a surfeit of folly and abandon 
it of his own accord. Farmers often believe that wheat un- 
der the adverse conditions of an unfavorable soil or season 
will turn into worthless “cheat.” Mr. Ingledee’s fond 
credulity went still further and believed that what was sown 
as cheat should finally turn into wheat. Too late had Mr. 
Ingledee laboriously begun to construct his protecting levees. 
The rushing muddy water had already swept away or fouled 
everything good and fair in his cherished fields and gardens, 
and the cheat alone flourished. 

Lately Silas had begun to gamble, and his losses had been 
a heavy draft on the parental cash box. Now, Henry Ingle- 
dee was a man who when once thoroughly aroused on any 
subject whatever, took a decided stand, and no power on 
earth could move him. He was not arbitrary or unreasona- 
ble in the everyday affairs of life, either with his family or 
others. He allowed his children all the money they needed to 


296 


AN IRON CROWN. 


spend, and asked few questions about how they spent it. Any 
reasonable caprice they were at liberty to gratify, regardless 
of expense. But gambling, though a fashionable, was not to 
his mind a reasonable caprice. He made a wide distinction 
between the betting on “futures” in Wall street and the bet- 
ting on “futures” at the gaming table. Like many other nice 
distinctions in law, medicine, theology, or social ethics, it was 
a distinction without a difference. But Ingledee recognized 
fully its validity. He would not allow gambling. In bet- 
ting, he had informed Silas, it is as easy to stake one hundred 
thousand as one thousand. It would ruin even a modern 
railway king who could buy and sell old Croesus every day. 
If such nonsense were allowed to go on, the losses of the 
operator at the gaming table might even counterbalance the 
gains of the operator in Wall street. Mr. Ingledee’s logic 
as exemplified and emphasized in his own life was that the 
only safe way to gamble is to do it after the method of the 
heathen Chinee, which was described as “ peculiar,” but 
which was no more peculiar than the methods of a subsidy 
and land-grant railway magnate. 

Ingledee, suspecting where so much money went, had set 
about learning the exact location of this miniature maelstrom 
which absorbed ready cash with such facility. He scorned 
to set spies to watch his son’s actions, and in consequence 
found information not very easy to get. As he had on one 
or two occasions before confided in Roker, he now had re- 
course to that gentleman. In a roundabout way he intro- 
duced the subject of gambling in general. Roker knew his 
power. He would let this proud man humble himself to 
ask for what he wanted, otherwise he might go without in- 
formation. Finding hints useless, Ingledee at length asked 
Roker plainly whether he had heard any rumors among 
young men around town of Silas’s losses. Roker feigned 
as much surprise as was prudent, thought such things were 
greatly exaggerated, and finally admitted that he had heard 
rumors of Mr. Silas having engaged in sundry conflicts 
with the animal figuratively known as the tiger. From 
Mr. Ingledee’s bitter denunciation of the vice of gaming, 
this deep conspirator saw at once that its continued indul- 
gence by Silas would be an additional factor in the chain of 
growing differences that must sooner or later make reconcil- 
iation between father and son impossible. Hence the lower 
Silas sank into disreputable practices the further he fell from 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 97 

his father’s standard of usefulness, and the less danger there 
was of the son ever supplanting Roker in the important 
confidential position which he now held. Hence he had no 
intention of informing Mr. Ingledee as to the worst until 
the worst could not be remedied. He carelessly remarked, 
that in certain circles young men usually played a little. 
This was said in a manner which led Mr. Ingledee to be- 
lieve that his confidential clerk was not aware of the extent 
of Silas’s losses. These had been so heavy that Mr. Ingledee 
had plainly informed his son that unless the drain of money 
was greatly diminished he would put him on an allowance 
and pay no more of his debts. 

At the Argosy Club Tom and Silas sat smoking and 
chatting. They were perhaps more confidential than they 
had ever been before. The latter had much to say about his 
Colorado experiences, which greatly interested Silas. 
Among other things the subject of gambling was mentioned 
and the fondness of miners for games of chance. 

At this particular juncture Mr. Horace Roker sauntered 
into the room. As he had been unobserved by his acquaint- 
ances, for some reason best known to himself, he did not join 
them, but retired to a seat in an alcove near. It has puz- 
zled a great many people, and doubtless it will remain a 
source of perplexity to many more till the end of time, why 
the Power that controls the destinies of the universe will 
.sometimes allow everything to conspire to aid the diabolical 
schemes of a villain, even to the bringing about of purely 
fortuitous circumstances in his favor, while on the other hand 
unforeseen causes rise on every hand to defeat the plans of an 
honest man. Roker could not have arrived at a more op- 
portune time to hear just what he wanted to know after the 
conversation which had occurred between him and • Mr. 
Ingledee a few days before. He puffed his cigar apparently 
unconscious of all the world, but listening intently. Pretty 
soon Silas remarked in a scarcely audible tone: 

“ I don’t mind telling you, Norwell, the fact is, I’ve dipped 
into that sort of thing a little myself. I lost pretty heavily 
and the governor threatened to sit on me if I did it any 
more.” 

“ I never was in such a place in New York in my life. I 
suppose the games are very much like those in tho Rocky 
Mountains?” 

“ About the same thing the world over, I guess, only 


298 


AN IRON CROWN. 


these high-toned places here are very elegant. I’ll take you 
round to Dick’s place, in Occidental street, if you say so. 
It’s only a step.” 

44 I shouldn’t mind seeing it out of curiosity, if I am not ex- 
pected to play. I never play for money.” 

44 That’s all right. I’ll take you in as a visitor. Come 
on.” The two men walked out into the street, and Roker 
immediately passed to the other side and followed them. 

Next afternoon Mr. Ingledee and Roker were closeted in 
his private office, as they often w r ere, discussing important 
business matters. Mr. Ingledee was beginning to realize 
more and more the value to him of this hard-working, clear- 
headed, confidential clerk. He often secretly regretted that 
Silas had never taken to business with the same interest. 
He was beginning to despair that his son should ever be able 
to succeed him, and by his energy sustain the father’s world- 
wide reputation. After they were through talking business 
Roker still lingered, and presently said: 

44 Excuse my interrupting you further, Mr. Ingledee” — 
then he hesitated, as if not knowing how to proceed. 

44 Go on, Roker. What is it?” 

44 You remember our conversation the other day about 
Mr. Silas?” 

44 Yes,” said Ingledee, with a quick raising of the brows. 

44 You will excuse my mentioning it but” — here he hesi- 
tated again. 

44 Go on, Mr. Roker. If you have anything to commu- 
nicate, have no hesitancy. I shall not only overlook your 
mentioning it, but after our previous conversations on the 
same subject, consider it quite a kindness on your part.” 

44 Chancing to drop into the Argosy Club last evening, I 
overheard a conversation between your son and Mr. Norwell. 
I w r as so situated I could scarcely help hearing. To my 
surprise they were talking about gambling.” Here Roker 
paused, and Ingledee raising his eyes slightly, after a mo- 
ment, said: 

44 Well?” 

44 In a few moments they left the place and went di- 
rectly to Dick’s place, in Occidental street.” 

44 If Silas dares to disobey me in this matter, I will cast 
him out and disown him,” and a look of almost fierce 
anger instantly appeared on the usually calm, impassioned 
features. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


2 99 


“ I thought it best for you to know,” said Roker, rising 
to go. 

“ You did quite right, Mr. Roker. I appreciate your 
motives and thank you for it. My boy is everything to me. 
I would give all else I have in the world for him,” contin- 
ued Ingledee, half to himself, as if unconscious of Roker’s 
presence. “ It is hard to think that he has no respect either 
for himself or me. He forgets what I have made him.” But 
the son had not forgotten. The father had by a lifetime of 
example taught him that it was right to wring money un- 
justly from the millions to spend selfishly on himself. 
The spending being easier than the getting, this sybarite 
offspring chose that to the neglect of the other. The father 
had never since he entered Wall street really had an honora- 
ble, lofty aspiration. Could he expect the spring to rise 
above its source? Recollecting himself, Ingledee agaii^ 
said : 

“Thank you, Roker. Did you say he was with Tom 
Norwell?” he asked, as a new idea appeared suddenly to 
strike him. 

“Yes, they went together.” 

“ That is very strange.” 


CHAPTER XXX. 

IN WHICH THE BROWNELL FAMILY RECOGNIZE THE EX- 
ISTENCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Brownells deemed it best to recognize at stated in- 
tervals the existence of the United States, republican institu- 
tions, and their fellow citizens of New York. They did 
this in a way which effectually prevented the assumption of 
undue familiarity on the part of said republican institutions 
toward the Brownell family. They gave at long intervals a 
reception conducted in the very top notch of etiquette. 
Probably Mr. Brownell was not ashamed of being an 
American citizen. At least he had never been known to say 
so publicly. But his actions, his speech, and his aping of 
old-world manners indicated that he thought such citizenship 
a mild sort of stigma, which, though disagreeable, was not 


3 °° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


positively a thing to be ashamed of. It was to be borne 
best by persistently ignoring it and assuming instead a cos- 
mopolitan attitude of world citizenship. No one country, 
however great, can conveniently hold such art American as 
Mr. Brownell, though on the other side of the water men 
of this Himalayan pride can afford to boast of belonging to 
the nobility of some contemptible little principality not 
large enough to make a decent cow ranch in Texas. 

The Brownell family consisted of Mr. Brownell, his wife, 
a son and a daughter. The latter had married a distinguished- 
looking foreigner with a piratical visage, most luxuriant 
whiskers and an equally luxuriant blanket mortgage spread 
all over everything belonging to him, excepting his pedigree. 
Mrs. Brownell’s pride did not cover so much ground as her 
husband’s, but was better focused and consequently much more 
intense. She thought it very probable that she was descended 
from a celebrated old-world freebooter, who, by grace of his 
promiscuous cutting of throats and seizing of lands had, away 
back five hundred years ago, won from an appreciative king 
a patent of nobility, and become Baron of something or other, 
just what it was makes no difference in this history. She 
based this rather shadowy genealogy chiefly on the fact that 
her paternal ancestors held the same name as the old Baron, 
and came from the same country which boasted the doubtful 
honor of having produced that illustrious old robber. Per- 
haps the strongest point in favor of her claim was, that no 
one could prove its falsity had it been worth while to make 
the attempt. 

To Mr. Brownell it had always been a secret cause of 
mild regret that he had not sprung from a marquis, a duke, 
a princeling of some sort, a Dutch discoverer, a fierce Hugue- 
not pretty well slashed by Catholic swords, or in fact any 
ancient worthy with a gory record and a barbarous name. 
Even a Puritan father would have been better than nobody. 
Such descent would have been all the more satisfaction, since 
he could then have offset his wife’s rascally old Baron by his 
own redoubtable ancestors. But to do his best Mr. Brownell 
could not trace his family genealogy back farther than his 
grandfather, who had come to this country some seyenty-five 
years before, and laid the foundation of the comfortable for- 
tune the family now enjoyed, by trading and investing in real 
estate. The grandfather and father had spent their lives get- 
ting money, which the present head of the house carefully 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3° I 


spent in burning incense on the family altar of Brownell 
pride. The Brownells, though well-known, had never been 
society people, because Mrs. Brownell did not care to make 
advances to people whose pretensions to ancestry were as yes- 
terday compared with her own. The “ best families ” on the 
other hand did not care to worship blue blood so long drawn 
out, that it painfully reflected on a pedigree derived but the 
day before from boatmen, peddlers, and shop-keepers. When 
the plutocrats cared to play the sycophant to aristocracy, as 
many of them did, they could go to the scions of some of the 
very bluest blood in Europe, and lay down their dollars in 
exchange for the dear privilege of worshiping a name. 

The Brownells now determined to pay their social debts 
by burning some incense publicly. They were very careful 
as to whom they invited to witness their sacred mysteries. 
For this there were two valid reasons, the blood of the bold 
Baron and the fact that in their estimation social recognition 
of any one by the Brownells, bestowed on the recipient a sort 
of halo that was expected to cling to him ever afterward. 
Hence it was eminently proper that candidates for this honor 
should be selected with great care. As a rule there were in- 
vited only people who lived on a fixed income, or who were 
prosperous in some worldly sense, or who suffered from in- 
ordinate pedigree, or who were afflicted with incurable mani- 
festations of genius. Among the guests were the Ingledees, 
the Ophirs (though Mr. Ophir scarcely ever went to such 
places), the Chrysolites, the Norwells and the Snickers. 
Garmand as a distinguished foreigner allied to the nobility, 
was invited. May Bryce received an invitation by virtue of 
the fact that she was a guest of Alice Norwell, whose father 
had been an old friend of Mr. Brownell. 

On the eventful evening the Brownell mansion, which 
was closed so large a part of the time, was brilliantly lighted. 
The great world which was too busy or too poor to engage in 
such things, realized that some unusual eruption was about 
to take place i‘n the higher altitudes of the social structure. 
The people gathered in a crowd to look on, much as the 
Neapolitans would look at an eruption of Vesuvius. The 
house was brilliantly illuminated and beautifully adorned with 
floral devices. Elaborate preparations had been made for re- 
freshments. Exquisite music was provided^ The ballroom 
floor shone like a mirror for those who cared to dance. 
There were cards for those who liked to play, in short, every 


3°2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


device employed by the “ best people ” was here to be found 
for the amusement of the guest. Mr. Brownell had money, 
and though his interest in the American people was somewhat 
perfunctory, he wanted them to feel that his interest in his 
own reputation for doing things genteelly was very active. 

At the entrance to the reception room stood Mrs. Brownell 
to welcome the guests. She was a tall, faded lady with a 
tired, dyspeptic expression, and dressed like a duchess. Her 
manners were frigidly though studiously polite. Her move- 
ments were rather too precise to be called graceful; they gave 
her the appearance of a wondrous piece of mechanism 
wound up for the evening. Mr. Brownell was, if possible, 
in a more arctic, inflexible condition than his stately wife. 
Though these people sincerely attempted to be entertaining 
the effect of their manners was decidedly refrigerating like 
the influence of an iceberg in a temperate sea. 

Among other notable guests was the Honorable Dave 
Sawder. The Honorable Dave had run up from Washing- 
ton where Congress was in session, on business. The legis- 
latures of two States would soon meet in two capitals not a 
thousand miles from New York City, and United States 
Senators were to be elected. Ophir was supposed to be 
directly interested in both these elections. Perhaps the Hon- 
orable Dave Sawder was interested too, in some way. 

Mr. Ingledee, though seldom appearing in society, was 
present on this occasion. During the evening, Brownell, 
Ingledee and Sawder became engaged in a political discussion. 
Sawder was reminding the other two of their neglect of polit- 
ical duties. With a great show of candor he went on to say 
much about the unpatriotic conduct of so many American 
citizens in this respect. 

“ The better classes have no right to complain of mis- 
government and corruption, so long as they refuse to perform 
their duties at the primaries and at the polls. They complain 
that crooked, ward politicians and barroom loafers manage 
the elections. Such was the case under the opposition, as we 
well know.” 

“ Oh, of course,” said Mr. Brownell, “ the regime of the 
opposition was disgraceful. But do you not think that we 
can safely leave it to the rank and file of our party to accom- 
plish all that is needed?” Snicker Senior, who had joined 
the group, remarked: 

“ I think so, gentlemen. Our institutions are very flexible, 
gentlemen.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3°3 

“ Other people do not furnish the money to pay your 
taxes, then why should you allow them to furnish all the 
votes to elect the men who levy your taxes? ” asked Sawder. 

“ I think the franchise ought to be restricted. Voting is a 
farce as managed nowadays,” remarked Snicker. 

“ We business men are able to make more,” replied Ingle- 
dee to Sawder, paying no attention to Snicker’s remark, “ by 
attending to business and allowing officeholders to steal a 
little for themselves and friends.” 

“ Then don’t complain if they steal a little more than you 
expected, as the opposition did. I think our party can be 
safely trusted, but how are you going to keep our party in 
power? Manifestly by rallying every man to the polls.” 

“For my part,” Mr. Brownell went on, “ I am absent 
abroad a great deal and I scarcely feel well enough informed 
to engage actively in local affairs. I instruct my business 
agent to vote however, in my place as it were. You know 
local politics is — you will excuse me Mr. Sawder, for I don’t 
refer to national — ” 

“ Don’t be afraid of my feelings.” 

“ Well in short, local politics is a very dirty business.” 

“ The trouble with you fellows is that you want to go to 
che polls in a carriage, and you’re afraid that some plebeian 
will jostle you, so you stay away. The old Roman was 
more patriotic; no matter how long his purse or how blue 
his blood, he buckled on his shield and went to war.” 

“ He knew,” replied Ingledee, “that he wouldn’t get any of 
the spoils if he didn’t. We make more money at home 
nowadays.” 

“No doubt of it at all,” said Snicker. “During the war I 
scooped a clean million out of sugar. I tell you what it is, 
gentlemen, these fellows who are eternally growling about 
the rich, and bribery, and extortion, and all that, are a set of 
poor devils who have failed to make money themselves. 
Why don’t they make money too? Haven’t the brains, that’s 
all.” Snicker said this with an air of authority that settled 
the question at once and for gbod. 

These four men represented four elements of weakness, if 
not danger, to our republican institutions. Brownell was the 
proud, but honorable, rich man who disdained to mingle with 
laborers and mechanics to aid the cause of honest govern- 
ment by his influence and counsel. Ingledee was the sort of 
rich man, who, by way of advancing his own interests, 


3°4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


thought no more of Buying an alderman, or congressman 
than he would of buying a watermelon. Snicker represented 
the illiterate, superficial rich man, who cares for nothing that 
“does not give him an opportunity to air his own importance 
" and make a vulgar display. Dave Sawder was the kind of 
oily politician who deludes the people into believing him a 
patriot, and who is ready to be bought, at any time on any 
occasion, not by so many dollars counted out and receipted for, 
' but by a block of stock quietly slipped into the hand of a 
discreet friend with the understanding that if a certain bill 
passes the stock will be valuable, if not, it will be worthless. 
After a vast amount of fictitious labor, consultation, and in- 
vestigation, such a statesman usually concludes that the pro- 
posed measure is a great public necessity. Then ensues much 
speechmaking for buncombe, accompanied by an energetic 
throwing of dust into the eyes of the public — not for bun- 
combe. The great statesman, if opposition develops, grows 
patriotic, poses as a champion of the poor man who is clam- 
oring for increased transportation, grows frenzied at the 
base motives of the opposition, who, like idiots, oppose the 
measure on party grounds, annihilates two or three of their 
conceited members who dare to measure swords with him in 
debate, musters bis forces — and the bill passes. 

The spacious parlors of Mr. Brownell were overflowing 
with respectability, youth, and gayety. Terpischore for the 
time receives more attention than politics, for the young 
people were more inclined to resort to the ballroom for 
amusement. Fred Snicker flitted around May Bryce. He 
was in excellent spirits, robust, in fact, for him. Apparently 
nothing had gone wrong with his boutoniere, his perfume, or 
his supernal indifference to the world in general. The indi- 
cations were that he was seriously smitten with the charms of 
the “ Pwawey Floweh,” as he called her when speaking to his 
friends. Snicker, of course, thought he had made a complete 
conquest. He never for a moment entertained a suspicion 
that any young lady could be insensible to his attractions. 
May Bryce treated him with the unaffected kindness which 
she bestowed on all her acquaintances. Young gentlemen 
with more conceit than brains, on meeting a lady with this 
charming simplicity of manner, are inclined to think her de- 
meanor due to the irresistible fascination of their person and 
manners, while she, perhaps, is secretly pitying the poor fools. 
The young Commoner danced one set with May, and to his 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3°5 


delight found that “she weally did vewy well indeed.” To 
a friend he confided this piece of information, which with 
much more, went to confirm the high opinion Mr. Snicker had 
formed of this fair Western maiden. 

“ Shouldn’t wonder if her father owned a whole county of 
land, and ten thousand cows or so,” he remarked to a friend. 
“Of course he must be deuced wich. I’ll look that all up if 
I care to go any further.” 

“ Snicker, if you propose for her hand I’d advise you to 
examine it carefully.” 

“ What a pwepostewous pwecaution. Did you ever hear 
of a fellow’s pwoposing for a hand that he hadn’t examined 
carefully? But why did you say that, Stilwell ? ” 

“Well you see, if she has been milking cows all her life 
her hand will have a callus on the palm.” 

‘‘Now, Stilwell,” said Snicker after a pause, during which 
the force of the remark slowly filtered into his brain, “ I 
weally think that isn’t fair, you know, about one’s friends. 
Weally, I consider that abwupt,” and he tried to bustle up a 
little dignity. 

“Pshaw! don’t be a fool, Snicker. It was only a joke. 
I didn’t know you meant anything serious.” 

“ You may think it a very nice joke, but I don’t. In fact, 
I cawn’t see any joke about it, I consider it abwupt.” Then 
he walked away, trying to look ferocious, which effort might 
be compared with the attempt of a gosling to look savage. 

Miss Harrie Snicker employed all her little wiles to cap- 
ture the handsome young Englishman. Her dainty hook 
and silken line were always ready for use, but her angling so 
far had not been very successful. In spite of long practice, 
she had not learned to distinguish deep water from shallow, 
and knew no better than to troll with a spoon hook for brook 
trout. Just now she was trailing her spoon before a sucker. 
She stuck closely to Garmand and by mistake still called him 
“ My Lord” occasionally, which title, she discovered, was not 
at all displeasing to his ears. Under the pretext of showing 
him a rare exotic she lured him into the conservatory, which 
was open to the guests, and detained him longer than was 
strictly necessary to examine the plant. They sat down fora 
while, and Miss Snicker did her best to sustain a conversation. 
But as her entire life had been spent considering the intri- 
cacies of female dress, or trying to master the newest kink in 
the very latest dance; and as he had spent most of his exis- 


20 


3° 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


/ 


tence in the murderous occupation of killing time, this couple 
found little to talk about. 

Fashion is a cruel master which exacts an inestimable sac- 
rifice from its slaves. It demands not only the time and 
energies of the body, but a condition of its service is that the 
mind shall be left almost a blank. From the very nature of 
the pursuit, the devotee of fashion acquires few valuable ideas. 
The brain is filled with nonsense, which is only to be dis- 
placed by other nonsense with each new craze. Ideas are 
distasteful, because they necessitate thought. The time and 
the inclination to pursue any useful purpose or healthful activ- 
ity to a conclusion, and thus reap the legitimate fruits of real 
effort, are both lacking. The devotee of fashion grows old 
with the consciousness that he or she has never evolved a beau- 
tiful or practical thought, or performed a great deed. Under 
the inexorable law of natural selection they must sink into 
utter inanity or still be the superannuated slaves of fashion. 
And what sight is more pitiable than a rheumatic, shriveled old 
beau, with his ghastly smile more suggestive of face ache 
than mirth, trying to keep up the absurd antics which in a 
very young man may be excusable. One other equals it, 
and that is the palsied, shrunken, sallow old belle, rouged, 
ruffled and bespangled, who attempts at fifty or sixty to imi- 
tate the rosy charms and artless manners of a maiden in her 
teens. Persistent devotion to fashion is a sure mark of men- 
tal inferiority. 

The conversation between Harrie Snicker and Wyndleigh 
Garmand was necessarily somewhat disjointed and not par- 
ticularly edifying, except, perhaps, to the student of social 
ethics. She wished to appear greatly interested in everything 
he said or did, while he thought to himself it was a a great 
bore, you know,” to be obliged to entertain all the time in- 
stead of being entertained. He had been relating some of 
his experiences in the W est, and among other topics got 
around to mining. He frequently mentioned shafts in that 
connection, till finally, Miss Snicker’s curiosity being aroused, 
she asked: 

“ Mr. Garmand, did you bring back one of those shafts 
among your collection of curiosities?” 

“ No, certainly not,” said he in some surprise, “ you see 
this shaft is aw — in the ground, you know.” 

“ Couldn’t they dig one up?” 

“ Really, Miss Snickeh, you don’t quite aw — understand. 


AN IRON CROWN 


3°7 


The shaft is only a — really now, what is it — why, in fact, you 
see it’s nothing but a hole in the ground.” Garmand was de- 
sirous of getting rid of this piece of insipidity. He was 
oblivious to his own inability to interest people. Had he been 
reminded of it he would only have asked, “ Pon my soul, why 
should I be under the necessity of entertaining anybody ? 
Now, really, I’m surprised that any one expected me to put 
myself out that way, you know.” But he was very con- 
scious of her stupendous ignorance. Passing out they saw 
Alice Norwell and May Bryce talking to two gentlemen. 
Miss Snicker remarked in no very low tone. 

“ I think the Norwells must be very poor now. I don’t 
see how they can afford to go into society. Why don’t peo- 
ple who can’t afford it keep where they belong! They cer- 
tainly don’t belong in society. The idea of poor people go- 
ing into society. It’s dreadful, and then poverty is not in- 
teresting at all. It is so common.” 

u Yes, I believe you are right, Miss Snickeh. I think 
myself poverty is deuced common, and admitted generally to 
be aw — in fact, vulgah.” 

The young lady was not yet ready to surrender “My 
Lord.” On the dancing floor a party was forming for a Vir- 
ginia reel as a change from the giddy whirl of over-much 
waltzing. Miss Harrie said she believed the dance was 
brought from Virginia, and it was very good for variety. 
There was no help for it, so he asked her to be his partner, 
casting rather wishful eyes, however, at one or two other 
young ladies of his acquaintance. Young Snicker led out 
Miss Bryce with such a profusion of gallantry that his bow- 
ing, smirking and excess of little attentions embarrassed her 
a trifle. 

May had consented to this dance because it was a reel. 
Waltzing had made her giddy and somewhat short of breath. 
She did not feel well. She was weary with all this display, 
confusion of voices, music and overheated air. Tom Nor- 
well had led out Chetta Ingledee. As May glanced at them 
taking their places, her heart suddenly sank. She experienced 
an overpowering sense of loneliness and an indefinable feeling 
of dissatisfaction. This feeling amounted almost to distress. 
She was on the point of asking Snicker to lead her to a seat. 
Then she knew that would attract attention which her sensi- 
tive nature shrank from. Suddenly, without knowing why, 
she wished she were in her prairie home and had never seen 


3°8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


New York. Was she jealous ? No. Tom Norwell’s invit- 
ing Chetta to dance was not only perfectly proper but to be 
expected, seeing they were old friends. Looking at Chetta, 
however, May thought she detected an air of triumph ex- 
pressed in the bearing of that young lady. 

May Bryce realized the dissimilarity of taste and feeling 
existing between herself and most of the people around her. 
She saw the impossibility of her ever leading or even occupy- 
ing a prominent position in this elegant society. Her simple 
tastes, country breeding and her keen appreciation of truth, 
which made it impossible for her to countenance even false 
appearances or shams of any kind, all combined to make her 
dissatisfied with the empty compliments, the glitter and the 
hollowness of fashionable life. It was all foreign to her nature. 
She was not at home in such surroundings, despite her best 
efforts to appear so, and save mortification to her friends. She 
made one or two blunders even in the simple figures of the 
Virginia reel, to her great disgust with herself. 

May went to her seat, looking ill. The color on her 
cheeks was too brilliant for perfect health. To inquiries from 
one or two ladies, she replied that nothing was the matter. 
Snicker was anxious to serve her. He had a profusion of sug- 
gestions. She assured him that she wished nothing. She 
was only a little tired. Finally, as a kindness to him in ac- 
cepting some service, she allowed him to bring her a glass of 
water. Miss Ingledee came and sat beside May, and Mr. 
Snicker excusing himself, left them alone. 

M You are not feeling well, Miss Bryce. I think the room 
is too warm for you.” 

“ It is a little too much exertion I think, Miss Ingledee.” 
In spite of her efforts to appear calm, a flush suffused her 
features. May hated this tell-tale glow in the presence of the 
woman before whom she wished to appear indifferent. 

“ I think, Miss Ingledee, I have danced too much this 
evening.” Chetta Ingledee’s heart softened toward this pain- 
fully sensitive girl. She tried to put May at her ease by 
turning the conversation in a different direction. They 
chatted a few minutes on various topics, but May Bryce all 
the time could not get rid of the notion that this dark-eyed 
young lady was, under the guise of careless conversation, try- 
ing to read her. In consequence May grew self-possessed 
and reticent, as Chetta grew more communicative. 

“ You have excellent friends in the Norwells,” she said. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3°9 


“ Yes, very nice, indeed.” 

“ Old friends of your father’s family, I suppose?” Chetta 
put this innocent query as a feeler, while her manner was ap- 
parently most indifferent. 

“No, not exactly. I had letters to Miss Alice Norwell 
from a friend of hers.” 

“You could not have found better people to introduce 
you into good society.” 

“ They have been very kind.” 

“ They are, 1 might say, old friends of our family.” 

“ Indeed ? ” May thought it strange that Alice had not 
mentioned the Ingledees oftener. As for Tom, well, he had 
never mentioned them at all. 

“Then Miss Norwell is an old friend of yours?” 

“ Yes, that is to say, an old acquaintance. But I am better 
acquainted with her brother. He and I are very old friends. 
We took French lessons together once in one of Professor 
Dubois’s classes.” 

There was something in the tone of this innocent-looking 
piece of information that sent a pang into May’s heart. She 
thought this woman meant something in making the remark, 
else why take the trouble to tell a stranger how her acquain- 
tance with Tom Norwell began? This girl was an old friend 
of Tom’s, and while she did not doubt him she distrusted the 
woman. Chetta, on the other hand, thought this simple 
country girl, with the pretty face and artless manners, was a 
great deal deeper than she appeared. As a possible rival 
May Bryce might be dangerous, but Chetta trusted to he** 
own knowledge of the world, and the hold she fancied she 
already had on Tom Norwell to come out best in the end. 

The guests were now rapidly saying good-night to the 

statelv host and hostess. Mr. Brownell’s face wore that air 
•/ 

of reserved self-satisfaction which so becomes the consciously 
proper man who has done the proper thing in a proper man- 
ner at the proper time. Mrs. Brownell’s faded, tired face 
wore a resigned expression of duty well done. She had 
wielded the social scepter full as well as her reputed ancestor, 
the old Baron, had ever wielded his dripping sword in “ye good 
old days.” At the hour of two the doors closed on the last 
guest, and the social debts of the Brownells were paid for two 
or three years to come. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


MAKING A U. S. SENATOR. — MISS CHETTA INGLEDEE AC- 
CIDENTALLY OBTAINS SOME VERY IMPORTANT IN- 
FORMATION, AND MR. QUILL MALLEY EXECUTES A 
URRINT. 

United States Senators were to be elected during the 
winter in several States, and it behooved Messrs. Ophir and 
Inodedee to be looking after their interests. Ingledee’s in- 
terests being on the Pacific coast, where such things are more 
easily managed, he could safely leave this part of the work to 
bis very efficient partners. Ophir had large interests in States 
adjoining New York, in addition to his great Continental & 
Pacific. It was absolutely necessary in order to carry out 
successfully their daring plans for robbing the people, that 
these men have trusty agents in the guise of public servants 
in the halls of Congress and on the floor of the United 
. States Senate. On the whole it was easier to secure Senators 
than Congressmen. Under our present system of election, 
and equilibrium of parties, a man with money can go into a 
State legislature and buy up the few doubtful votes necessary 
to his purpose, with less risk and expense than he can buy the 
popular votes at the polls. The legislative palm is itchy, and 
the legislative mouth which manifests a disagreeable dis- 
position to open on all other subjects can on this one be very 
close; the popular palm may itch as badly, but the popular 
mouth opens in a geometrical ratio with its number. 

The Honorable Dave Sawder had appeared in New York 
at about the time of the meeting of these State legislatures. 
To-day he had an appointment with Ophir at the well-known 
Big Sachem saloon and lunch rooms on Occidental street. 
It was just as well perhaps at this particular time for the rep- 
utation of legislators, that any interview between them and 
Mr. Ophir be strictly private. Ophir was known to have a 
great deal of money, and it goes without saying that the aver- 
age legislator is in great want of money, otherwise he would 
not be an office-holder at all. If it were known that these 

(3io) 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 l 1 


men had a confidential interview the papers might talk, and 
the legislator’s reputation might be injured. It may excite 
some curiosity in the mind of the reader as to how a tricky 
politician’s reputation could suffer injury. Well, the sin of 
bribery, like some other very popular failings, entails serious 
consequences to the delinquent — when he is caught in the act. 
As for Ophir’s reputation, it was like that which Cassar 
wished his wife to have, though for a different reason. He 
had got above suspicion, because suspicion could no longer 
add anything to the notoriety he had achieved. 

Sawder stepped into the Big Sachem about ten o’clock in 
the forenoon. At that hour there would be very few persons 
about the place. Nodding pleasantly to the barkeeper he 
told him to say, when the other gentleman came, that he 
was waiting. Then he stepped through a latticed swinging 
door and disappeared in the rear. 

A description of this elegant resort of refined dissipation 
may not be amiss here. Let not the reader picture this 
saloon as a dingy place, with a dirty floor covered with saw- 
dust, and dotted with filthy spittoons. Everything was pleas- 
ing to the eye. Had Pope resorted here perhaps he might 
never have pronounced vice to be a monster of hideous mien. 
Here vice was no monster so far as external appearances 
went. The floor was composed of small fancy-colored tiles 
laid in geometric patterns, which made it look almost like a 
handsome mosaic. The walls were covered with beautiful 
pictures of nymphs, battle scenes and mythological subjects. 
The ceiling was handsomely frescoed and the highly-orna- 
mented bronze gasaliers were rare works of art. The gor- 
geous wall-paper ended at the floor in a rich dado of dark 
maroon color and ample width. The counters and woodwork 

JL 

of the place were of costly foreign woods, whose colors con- 
trasted and blended harmoniously. A handsome nickel foot 
rest ran round the bar so that the devotee at the shrine of Bac- 
chus could imbibe his potations in an easy attitude. This was 
a proper concession to that national characteristic which 
makes it impossible for an American to be at ease till he has 
one foot (or both) elevated somewhere. The cuspidors were 
elegant porcelain affairs that might vie in beauty with mantel 
vases. In the rear were luxuriously furnished stalls with 
doors, affording entire privacy. Here were elegant clouded - 
marble tables for those who chose to sit over a bottle of wine. 
The Big Sachem was no resort of the vulgar. Its patrons 
demanded that sin be made attractive. 


3 12 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Mr. Ophir entered with a quick, business-like step, and 
speaking a few words to the presiding genius, passed to the 
rear. The barkeeper followed with some choice cigars on a 
tray. Mr. Ophir never drank liquors of any kind either in 
public or private. As the door closed on the waiter Ophir 
began : 

“I am in something of a hurry, Sawder. I have an ap- 
pointment with Ingledee at twelve.” 

“ Well, what do you wish done?” 

“It is necessary that Senator A be re-elected at Aries, and 
that Senator C be defeated at Cancer. The contest will be 
very close in the latter case and our votes will turn the scale 
in favor of Mr. B.” 

“ Is it really necessary, Mr. Ophir, to slaughter Senator 
C ? He is a strong man, and one of our best party workers.” 

“ C doesn’t suit me.” 

“ But his vote is needed by the party. Of course you are 
aware that the party has done much for your interests.” 

“ And I have done a great deal for the party. You know 
Sawder, you never could have been re-elected last year with- 
out me. Two years from now we shall put you into the 
Senate from this State. It is safe doctrine you know, to help 
those that can help you.” 

“ That’s all right, but I’m sorry for Senator C. He is a 
first-class man.” 

“ Yes, but he’s got a notion into his head that nobody is 
honest but himself. He Wants to be continually nosing into 
other people’s business. That funding act of his cost the 
Continental & Pacific a great deal of money before it was 
finally defeated. He is sure to bring it up again. He must 
go. I’ll tell you what it is, Sawder, the railroad interests of 
this country will not consent to be regulated by intermed- 
dling Bureaus and Commissioners, and have their private 
affairs looked into.” 

“Then you consider the Continental & Pacific as private 
^property ? ” 

“ Well, it amounts to that.” 

“ Still we must be cautious; you know the people built 
these roads and some people still insist they ought to have a 
say in controlling them.” 

“That shows what fools they are. If they build a road 
and give it to me, then it’s my private property. I’ll do as I 
please with it. I’ll charge what I please for freights. If they 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 1 3 


don’t like it let them grumble all they please. I don’t see 
how they are going to better themselves unless they choose to 
haul their goods by wagon. I have the advantage, and I in- 
tend to keep it.” 

“ Certainly, your interests must not be interfered with. I 
only make the suggestion that caution is necessary. How 
much money are you willing to spend on these two Sena- 
torships? ” 

“ Let me see. We must look over the ground carefully.” 
Here Mr. Ophir produced a thin memorandum book contain- 
ing a complete list of the members of the two legislatures in 
question. After the name of each member was a brief ab- 
stract of his business or profession, his financial standing, his 
religion, previous record, habits, etc. Ophir began reading 
this roll. 

u These whose names are checked it is useless to approach. 
They cannot be bought, at least for any price we can pay, 
though I think sometimes every man has his price.” Over 

half of the names were checked.* “ These marked with a 

» 

star are doubtful. They are new men and must be sounded 
carefully. These marked with a cross are old members and 
all right. We know their price. There’s Q; he comes from 
a high-toned community, and has an exaggerated notion of 
his influence. He will ask five thousand dollars for his vote, 
but will take twenty-five hundred. In fifteen years of public 
life I don’t think he ever got more than that. There’s Y — ” 
and Ophir laughed as his name was mentioned — “ he is a seedy 
country lawyer. He doesn’t know how to hold out. He’s 
always afraid he’ll be left and get nothing. It’s a waste of 
money to offer him over two hundred. There’s X ” — 

“ Hold on, Ophir, I don’t know about X. I am slightly 
acquainted with him, and I think he cannot be bought.” 

“ I happen to know better, Sawder. The last time our 
confidential agent of the Appalachian line went over the 
road he learned that X was engaged in a petty fraud, by 
which he beat his school district out of one hundred dollars. 
X is all right. Now, W’s case is different.” 

“ W stands very high in his community, and is a member 
of a strong church organization.” 

“ W is a good risk. He is" none too honest in my opin- 
ion, and he has a heavy mortgage on his property to fall due 


*Note 8. — Venality of Legislators. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 J 4 

soon. He will come high. We’ll wait till we see if we 
need him.” 

And so they ran rapidly through the lists for the two 
States. 

“ It will take about one hundred thousand dollars,” re- 
marked Sawder. 

“ Yes, those things cost more and more every year.” 

“ Do you want the same old parties to manage it?” 

<c Yes, Sigma may go to Aries. He is acquainted best 
there, and is a personal friend of Senator A. Let Alpha 
take C’s case in hand.” 

“ Alpha and Sigma are both in Washington now.” 

“ There’s plenty of time to get them here before they 
are needed. Your part is merely to give them these data 
and state just what is expected.” 

“ Hicklev is a warm friend of Senator C, and he will be 
over there next month trying a noted land case. Do you 
think he will give us away?” 

“ I think not. In the first place he knows nothing, and 
in the second place, he’s not liable to try to find out much 
as long as he has in his possession a block of C & P bonds, 
which he received once for services.” 

“ True enough. I had forgotten that.” 

The two men now rose and walked into the front room. 
Ophir paid for the cigars and they left the place, no one think- 
ing or caring anything about their business. 

On the same forenoon Miss Insjedee was down town 
shopping. Toward noon she called at her father’s office, 
intending to go out and take lunch with him, as she occa- 
sionally did. It happened that he was not in. Stepping 
into his private office she sat down to wait. A Japanese 
screen that folded like the leaves of a book stood near the 
window hieing the street. It prevented intrusive eyes from 
gaping curiously into the office of the great millionaire from 
the outside. Chetta passed behind the V-shaped screen, 
seated herself in the window, and was soon absorbed in a 
new book she had bought. It was a very popular novel, 
and certain events in it excited a most intense interest. She 
read for some time with such absorbing interest that she be- 
came almost oblivious to surroundings. After a while she 
became aware that her father and another man had entered 
the room and seated themselves not more than ten feet away. 
At first she thought it was only Roker. He would leave 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 J 5 


in a few moments, and then she would suddenly appear and 
surprise papa. But it was not Roker, and after awhile she 
thought she could make out Ophir’s voice. It mattered 
little, she thought, if she did hear. They were talking 
stocks, bonds, first mortgages, and all those things which 
women seldom try to understand. 

Chetta felt ashamed of her situation, but would have now 
felt still more ashamed to make her appearance. Her father 
would be greatly offended at her. What if he should dis- 
cover her there? She held her place and listened. The 
men were busy talking over some great financial undertak- 
ing. She had an idle curiosity to know how such men talked 
business. 

“ Ingledee, are you fully prepared to back me in this 
movement ?” 

“Yes, I think so. We must hdp each other. I may 
need you yet.” 

“ Of course I do not expect you to do it for nothing. 
I own a majority of Gridiron stock, but you can get plenty 
on the- street to make a handsome thing on. The last 
six per cent, dividend was an unusually favorable show- 
ing. We saved everywhere we possibly could, and held 
back two months’ pay from the men on the plea that we 
were unusually hard up.” 

“ And probably contributed a little cash out of your own 
pockets,” remarked Ingledee, drily.* 

“Exactly, to make a good showing. That was merely 
business, you see. On that dividend, and a little stiffening of 
the market, we can run Gridiron stock up, I think, to one 
hundred and twenty.” 

“ Easily, I should say. What’s your plan on the drop?” 

“ Knock the pegs out at one blow and down go stocks to 
seventy.” 

“ And the lambs that miss the first shearing will be ready 
for the second,” said Ingledee, with a hearty laugh. 

“ Exactly. Then it’s settled?” 

“ Yes.” 

“ That Englishman, Garmand, and some of his friends 
are short. But John Bull has lots -of capital he doesn’t 
know what to do with.” The two men rose and left the 
office together. 


*Note9. — Bogus dividends. 


3 l6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Chetta Ingledee listened to this conversation with aston- 
ishment. Was this the way her father made his money? 
Then her surprise gave way to indignation, which in turn 
was followed by an overwhelming sense of shame. She 
had seen her father, whom she loved and honored above 
all others, hill from his high estate. Strive as she would, 
she could only consider him a dishonored man. No more 
could he be to her the trusted idol he had been. She quickly 
resolved to defeat this wicked plot, so far as her friends were 
concerned. She would warn them of the danger at the 
risk of offending her father. His purpose was wrong. She 
owed no fealty to wrong, even if it was of her father’s plan- 
ning. Suddenly Chetta recollected that it was not safe for 
her to remain longer in the office. She might be discovered 
at any moment. She rose to leave the room, and at the 
same instant Mr. Horace Roker opened the door and entered. 
Knowing that Mr. Ingledee would not return before lunch, 
Roker had entered to get some memoranda he needed in pre- 
paring some important documents. He was a little sur- 
prised at meeting Chetta there. 

a You here, Miss Ingledee? This is quite a little surprise.” 
The surprise he feigned was not half what she felt at his very 
inopportune appearance. But she replied carelessly: 

“ I came in to see papa awhile ago, but I believe he has 
gone to lunch.” Roker was puzzled. He had just seen 
Ingledee leave the office in company with Mr. Ophir. 
Through the open door of his own office opposite he could 
certainly have seen any one enter Ingledee’s private office. 
He had not seen this woman enter, yet here she was. 

“ Have you any message to leave, or is there anything I 
can do for you, Miss Ingledee?” 

“ Nothing at all, thank you, Mr. Roker.” 

After she was gone, Roker sat a few minutes thinking. 
Here was some mystery. The new movement to be made 
in Gridiron was, of course, known in its general aspects 
to Roker as confidential private secretary. A designing man 
himself, he naturally suspected others. His eye fell on the 
screen, and he at once had the key to the situation. The 
girl had been listening, he was satisfied. But for what pur- 
pose? She certainly had no private deals of her own, as 
some ladies had unknown to their husbands or fathers, and 
which involved them in a great many embarrassments. She 
had no need to make money in this way. Was she obtain- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 X 7 


itig information for some one else? That was more proba- 
ble, and for whom could it be, if not for Tom Norwell ? He 
was satisfied that she favored Norwell, and his own prospects 
rested chiefly on his hope to be able to drive Tom from the 
field in some way. This matter was worth looking into. 
If she had obtained such information for Norwell doubtless 
he would meet her soon to get it. Perhaps that very even- 
ing as the most convenient time, and at her home, where he 
was in the habit of calling. The chances of Roker’s learn- 
ing anything definite were poor, but it cost nothing to follow 
up his suspicions so far as the interview that evening was 
concerned. 

Roker put on his hat and went out to the restaurant 
where he took lunch usually. He was very abstemious in 
his habits. A cup of coffee, a roll with butter, and a slice 
of cold meat constituted his regular lunch, which was dis- 
patched to-day in fifteen minutes, ten of which were spent 
waiting for the food to appear. Leaving the cafe, Roker 
indulged in a stroll, apparently for exercise. By chance or 
otherwise, he happened by Pipe Malley & Co.’s store, and 
dropped in ostensibly to purchase an orange. Quill Malley, 
with much cleaner hands and face than usual, recognized his 
old acquaintance and experienced no little alarm as he came 
forward to serve the customer, hardly knowing whether this 
was private business or a commercial transaction. Pipe was 
on the sidewalk showing a customer some bananas. 

“ I want a good Florida orange,” said Roker, throwing 
down a quarter. Then in a lower tone, “ Never mind the 
change.” He continued rapidly: “ Mr. Norwell is quite 
well acquainted with your Sunday school teacher, isn’t he?” 

“ I guess he be.” 

“ Calls on her frequently, doesn’t he?” 

“ I reckon he does,” said Quill, nervously glancing at the 
door. Then he added: 

u Say, Mister, don’t give it away to Pipe. He’d about 
skin me if he knowed it.” 

“ All right. Could you find time to be around her house 
about half-past seven to half-past eight this evening?” 

“ Sence I’m workin’ fur the firm it’s hard to git off. I’ve 
a urrint up that way and kin make it if I play it that I played 
on the way.” 

u All right, play it that way.” 

“ Pipe’ll give me fits I reckon, fur it.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 l8 

As Roker passed out he remarked to Pipe, “Pretty smart 
clerk that of yours. He knows his business.” 

“ Say Quill, wot kind o’ taffy wus that feller reelin’ off 
fur ye ?” 

“ He says I’m a smart clerk, an’ I reckon he knows.” 
“Well, I hope I never see anybody so fresh as you be. 
Wy, Quill, he was makin’ fun of yer.” 

“That’s the way you alliz talk when you don’t want me 
to git ahead an’ be partners.” 

“ Quill, you’ve a great head fur that partnership racket. 
I’d like to know who furnished the capital fur this hyur in- 
vestment, an’ who first rented the store, an’ who furnishes 
the sand fur the business? When you have all them things 
you kin be partners. That chicken was jist givin’ you a 
breeze. He seen them ears. In spite o’ everything said and 
done them ears hain’t clean yet an’ them socks — Quill, pull 
up them socks.” 

Quill made a vain attempt to pull up his socks to meet his 
pantaloons which daily, with the boy’s rapid growth, receded 
toward his knees. His brother’s disparaging remarks hum- 
bled and silenced him. Quill was conscious that he had not 
the “snap” of Pipe, that he could not run their little business 
if he had it. Pipe’s criticisms and his advice which seemed 
very hard to take, were well meant, but none the less did 
they wound. Without intending to be a tyrant, Pipe had be- 
come a merciless one. Such was his ascendancy that Quill 
positively dreaded his displeasure, though since they had gone 
into business Pipe never thought of physical violence to 
which he often resorted when they sold papers together. 
The most refined tyranny perhaps in the world is that which 
one relative may exercise over another. Its stings are all the 
more poignant because the victim feels that, instead of cruel 
words far more cruel often than blows, he or she is entitled to 
love, sympathy and protection. Pipe meant well, but some- 
times forgot that his brother had feelings. 

Chetta Ingledee went home, troubled greatly. It pained 
her to think that her father would do a dishonest thing. W as 
all this fabulous wealth the result of such miserable trickery 
under the pretended guise of business? She despised it all 
and hated herself for enjoying money, so thoughtless of its 
source. Her conscience was keenly alive to right and wrong. 
She was miserable. She sat and thought. Alight there not 
be two sides to the question? Perhaps her father’s moneyed 


AN IRON 'CROWN. 


S 1 9 

rivals had often attempted similar dishonest practices directed 
against him. Yet that to her conscientious mind did not 
make it right. One wrong never justifies two wrongs. She 
reasoned further. Garmand’s name had been mentioned. 
Why should she warn this foreigner who, like most foreign-: 
ers, was* anxious to make something out of the Yankees. As 
for Tom Norwell he had little money any way, and certainly 
knew better than to risk it in Wall street. Then the treason 
to her father. Her filial instinct revolted at the thought. No, 
she could not betray him if he were wrong. 

Silas came in before dinner. In pursuance of her father’s 
wishes and her own inclination, she now improved every op- 
portunity of making home attractive to him and winning him 
from his vicious ways. As yet she had met with no percepti- 
ble success, though the young man dined at home oftener, 
and twice or thrice lately he had accompanied his sister to the 
theatre and elsewhere. 

M Silas, do you think you will ever go into the office?” 

<* I hardly know myself. The Governor wants me to 
pretty badly.” 

“ What do you think of the business any way?” 

“ I think it’s a rattling good business. It’s a good deal 
better than a news-stand,” he added, with a laugh. 

“ I don’t mean about its paying. Do you think it is al- 
ways — isn’t it sometimes — ?” 

“ Not just square, Chet?” 

“ Yes, not precisely honorable.” It cost the sister an ef- 
fort to use the word honorable this way in connection with 
her father’s business. The brother never gave it a passing 
thought. 

“ Chet, I advise you not to bother your head about such 
things^ I don’t. So the dollars flow in freely, that’s enough 
for me.” 

“ But then suppose Papa’s success should induce others to 
invest and lose?” 

“ They needn’t do it unless they choose.” 

“ But suppose some of our acquaintances — for example, 
Mr. G arm and” — 

“ Or Tom Norwell? That’s all right too. If a business 
man has a good-looking daughter or an agreeable wife who 
brings gentlemen to the house, and the man makes money out 
of that acquaintance, what’s the harm ? A good-looking daugh- 
ter may be a great advantage to some men.” 


3 2 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


The bare idea of using friendship for so base and merce- 
nary a purpose caused Chetta’s cheeks to tingle with shame. 
But the brother had only expressed bluntly a proposition that 
after all might rest on a basis of truth. She could not help 
thinking that there was at least a disagreeable suspicion of 
truth lurking around it. It did not imply any set purpose on 
the part of her father, yet still she might be the unconscious 
means of luring men to certain ruin. She shuddered at the 
possibilities involved in her present social surroundings. She 
felt like a traitor to her father for having entertained the 
thoughts she had against him, and yet reflection told her that 
this tumult of dissatisfied feelings arose from a conscientious 
desire to do right in spite of possible consequences. In her 
rebellious mood she hated her wealth and its baleful influences, 
and loathed the insinuation that she might attract men into 
this fatal valley of Upas. At dinner Mr. Ingledee was in an 
uncommonly good humor. Silas had made no serious drafts 
on him lately. Doubtless the young man would yet come to 
his senses, for here he sat like a dutiful son and affectionate 
brother at the family board, trying his best to perform his 
social duties. If Chetta appeared absent-minded and inclined 
to silence Mr. Ingledee never noticed it, for Silas more than 
made up the deficiency by his unusual flow of spirits. This 
girl who could not perpetuate the family name amounted to 
little in the father’s eyes, though he admitted she was a 
handsome woman, as she presided there at his table in a rich 
wine-colored velvet dress with a flower in her luxuriant dark 
hair. Perhaps Silas had at last discovered that he could no 
longer rely on his father’s blind, unreasoning affection as a 
means of opening the parental purse to all sorts of wild ex- 
travagance. At any rate, he had the tact to see that he could 
recover lost ground at any time by reformation or the pre- 
tense of it. 

As Chetta sat after dinner looking out on the broad avenue, 
and watching the people as they passed beneath the street- 
lamps before the house, she noticed a dark figure pass up and 
down several times on the opposite side of the street. Some- 
times it disappeared, but would at short intervals reappear 
again. She thought little of this, but kept musing on the im- 
portant event of the day — the scene in her father’s office. 
Finally Chetta remembered a shopping errand to be done in 
a neighboring street. For such trifles she often went herself 
instead of sending a servant. Putting on her cloak and hat, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 21 


she passed out of a side door and reached the street by a nar- 
row walk. There she discovered the figure which had been 
loitering in the vicinity to be her hopeful pupil, Quill Malley. 
That young gentleman, who was partially concealed behind 
the steps of the next house, was considerably startled by her 
appearance. 

“ Why, Quill, is it you who have been walking backward 
and forward here for the last half hour? Why did you not 
ring at once? What do you want?” 

“Nothin’, said Quill, hanging his head. “Jis’ thought 
I’d take a walk up this way.” 

“ But you must ring, Quill, when you want me. I may 
not see you if you don’t.” 

To do Quill justice he felt heartily ashamed to think he 
had been guilty of spying on the best and almost the only 
friend he had ever had, excepting his mother. As long as he 
watched Tom Nor well and earned some spending money, it 
was a very easy affair. But Quill’s convictions were not very 
deep or lasting. His training had made his conscience like 
that of most of his class, very elastic. Then Chetta’s supposi- 
tion that as a matter of course he wanted her, furnished a 
ready means of escape from his awkward position. 

“ I didn’t think ye’d want the like ’o me a ringin’, Miss 
Ingledee.” 

“ Quill, when you have business, I have plenty of time. 
You wanted something?” 

“ Can’t say’s I do,” said Quill, considerably embarrassed. 
Where a downright fib was needed to bring himself out of 
difficulties, Quill was fertile in expedients. But he could not 
think of anything plausible just then to account for his visit. 
He hesitated to tell Chetta an out-and-out lie, besides, he 
knew she could see through an improbable fiction. 

“ Don’t things go right at the store? ” In an instant he 
was at ease. Here was a topic that would serve his purpose. 

“ No, they don’t. Pipe gits bossier every day.” 

“ But then some one must manage things,” she said, in a 
tone of remonstrance. 

“ I reckon they must, but he don’t give a feller no show 
’tall. I ain’t partners and he is. He’s got the capital an’ 
wants a hundred dollars from me afore he’ll let me be part- 
ners. So he keeps a jumpin’ on me. Wen a feller’s doin’ 
the best he kin wot’s the use to keep alliz a settin’ on ’im? ” 

“ You must work hard, economize, and buy an interest.” 


21 


322 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4C Wot’ll three dollars a week do? Three dollars a week 
ain’t goin’ to buy out any business very soon.” 

44 Does your mother charge you for board? ” 

44 She ain’t yet, but I guess she will afore long.” 

44 Then you should lay by one dollar every week. Give 
the other two dollars to your mother for board and repairing 
your clothes. At the end of a year you will have saved 
fifty dollars. I’ll put fifty more to it and then you can be- 
come a partner.” 

44 A year!” exclaimed Quill, appalled at the thought of 
such an astounding lapse of time. 44 I never could slave an’ 
save forever and make a misard o’ myself like that. No 
money for shows an’ stuff! Wot’s the use of livin’ if you’ve 
got to be a nigger? I reckon Pipe could do it, but tain’t my 
idee. Spose I’ll alliz haf to work on sal’ry.” 

44 Think it over, Quill,” said Chetta kindly, as she started. 
44 A year isn’t very long when you are young.” Quill started 
off muttering to himself, 44 Wonder if I ain’t a gittin’ old every 
day like other folks.” 

Quill was wofully behind time. Pipe was already putting 
up the shutters. He greeted Quill with a shrewd intimation 
that the other twin was playing off. 

44 Quill, you’re gittin’ slower than m’lasses in Jenooary. 
You’re soldierin’, don’t tell me. You’re up to sumthin’.” 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

MISUNDERSTANDINGS. GRIDIRON SOARS. 

The great movement in Gridiron stocks was inaugurated 
according to programme. The Gridiron system was one 
which had been graphically described as beginning nowhere 
and running nowhere. It had a perfect network of road, 
located in several Western States, and each new extension or 
consolidation resulted in the issue of a few more millions of 
stock to be bought up by a confiding public, and swell the 
sum total of the good Mr. Ophir’s snug pile. Quite a flurry 
was created in the stock market. Other securities advanced 
in sympathy. The shorts were unmercifully squeezed. 
Among them was Garmand, who had asked his broker to 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 2 3 

sell for future delivery a large block of Gridiron at a figure a- 
trifle below market rates. In other words, he and other bears 
bet that stocks would rule lower. Settling day was at hand 
and stocks which were to be delivered at a price away below 
par must be bought in the market above par. Garmand was 
nipped to the tune of fifty thousand dollars. Tom Norwell, 
who had nibbled around the Wall street bait a little lately, 
was not caught at all. 

Garmand called on his friend Norwell to get, if possible, 
a little consolation out of the present unlucky turn of fortune. 
He was very rich, however, and really could afford to lose 
fifty thousand if he chose. He was a regular visitor at the 
Norwells now. Tom was a confidential friend, and the com- 
pany of two such charming ladies as Alice and May Bryce, 
doubtless had much to do with his visits. The conversation 
in the presence of the ladies having been to some extent on 
the subject of stock speculations, Alice suspected that Gar- 
mand had met with losses. Her brother’s constant inclina- 
tion to take great risks in order to make money rapidly, was 
a source of apprehension to her. She feared that he might lose 
what still remained to him. Wilson, in his letters to Alice, 
frequently referred to the rapidity with which he was grow- 
ing rich out of the Amazon mine. Doubtless he wrote more 
fully the details of his enterprise to Norwell, for after these 
letters she had noticed that Tom invariably became restless 
and dissatisfied with his present condition of inaction. 

After Garmand’s departure Alice, improving an oppor- 
tunity while they were alone, asked Tom if Garmand had not 
lost some money. 

“ Yes, some fifty thousand on Gridiron,” answered Tom, 
carelessly. 

“ Did you lose anything, Tom? ” 

“ No, I had a little deal on the other side and made a 
thousand. Wish I had put in every dollar I could raise. I 
should have made a little fortune.” 

“ Oh, Tom, please don’t try speculation. It isn’t safe, and 
it’s demoralizing.” 

“ Especially when you lose.” 

u Suppose you win, it isn’t right. The thousand dollars 
you got is one thousand lost by some one else and that person 
got nothing.” 

“ He got his chance, and that is all I had.” 

But the system is wrong. It places temptation in the 


\ ■' 


3 2 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


way of clerks and poor men who hope to win money easily. 
Many a young man has been ruined by it.” 

“ I’m not responsible for the system.” 

“ But you encourage it. And you know that it brings 
ruin in the end. The clerk takes money from his employer’s 
drawer to bet on stocks. The man on salary gives the broker 
what he should spend on his family.” 

“ Sister, where have you been studying finance and 
political economy? You’re a tip top lecturer.” 

u Oh Tom,” she pleaded, “ don’t talk in that way. You 
know there is only sorrow in store for those who indulge such 
illusive hopes. Think what it has already done for us!” 
She thought a reference to their father’s tragic end might in- 
fluence him. He made no answer. “ Think of the moral 
wrecks — ” 

“ Moral wrecks! Well, that is a good idea. Do I look 
like a moral wreck, sister? Ha ha! I’m a pretty comfortable 
wreck.” His jeering tone pained her. He went on after a 
pause, “Well Alice, I’ll speak in earnest if you wish it. I 
am determined to make my fortune. It is useless for you to 
talk to me. I tell you I will have my own way. I think 
you are not competent to advise me on this subject.” 

The conversation was at an end. Alice Norwell went 
into the little back parlor where May was, and sat down. 
Her heart was full of anguish. Her brother had not only re- 
pulsed her well-meant efforts for his good, but for the first 
time in his life had been positively unkind. Tears welled to 
her eyes and trickled down her flushed cheeks. May who had 
been examining the engravings of a book, suddenly looked 
up to show to Alice something of special interest. In her 
surprise she exclaimed: 

“ Alice, dear, you are crying. What is the matter? ” 

“ I am foolish to-night. I have been thinking. That’s 
all.” 

“ But you must not think of such disagreeable things. 
There is something wrong.” 

“ It is nothing much. Sleep I think, is what I need. I 
shall retire.” Then abruptly bidding May good-night, Alice 
immediately went to her own bedroom. 

May resumed her examination of the engravings when 
she saw that Alice had no confidences to bestow. She tried 
to become interested in the book, but could not. She laid it 
aside. It was her turn to think. What could have hap- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 2 5 


pened? She left the brother and sister quietly conversing. 
There had been no loud words, apparently no quarrel, and 
yet there was some serious jar, for she had never before seen 
Alice Norwell in tears. Alice was not the sort of woman 
whose eyes are a kind of animated sprinkler set to work on 
the most trivial occasions. Then May wondered if in any 
way she could be connected with Alice’s grief. 

Since coming to New York May had for a few weeks 
been in a new world. The people she met, their habits, 
their ways of life, their dress, conversation and manners, 
were all new to her. She had learned a great deal, and 
above all, one to her very important fact. She could never 
enter this social fabric and become a part of it fitting into her 
assigned place as if she had grown there. This sweet flower 
of womanhood, possessing such exquisite tenderness and sim- 
plicity, could no more have sprung up in the artificial atmos- 
phere of a great city, than could the beautiful water lilies of 
her prairie home have flourished on the dry beaches of Coney 
Island. Nor could it adapt itself to anything but a sort of 
artificial existence amid such surroundings. There is a natural- 
ness even in being artificial, and this ease of manner May 
despaired of ever acquiring. When she saw the stately Mrs. 
Brownell receiving with the dignity and grandeur of a duchess, 
she felt that she would cut but a sorry figure entertaining 
society. May was quick of observation and facile in adapt- 
ing herself to circumstances when she found things congenial 
to her tastes. She had really got along very well in spite of 
her innate dislike of this cumbrous social code, which to her, 
seemed’ often to stand in the way of natural courtesy. But 
her extreme sensitiveness exaggerated the little mistakes she 
made. She constantly feared that others were watching her. 
She was naturally very sensitive as to what others thought 
of her, and for a friend to feel distressed at any fault of May’s, 
usually caused her more anguish than it did the friend. 

This morbid, over-sensitive feeling is a constant source of 
misery to its unhappy possessor, and unfortunately often grows 
almost to a possessing demon unless rigorously kept down. 
May imagined that Alice was offended at her. She set to 
work to find a cause. She retired to her room but no sleep 
came to her wakeful eyes. There could be but one cause, 
and that was her intimacy with Tom Norwell. But their 
engagement was a secret, though Alice certainly knew they 
were good friends. Why did she not, if she disapproved, 


326 


AN IRON CROWN. 


show signs of displeasure sooner instead of shedding mys- 
terious tears in this fashion? May tossed restlessly till nearly 
midnight but could make nothing of it. Sleep was impossi- 
ble. Her active brain conjured up all sorts of dire possibili- 
ties until, unable to lie longer and endure such nervous tension, 
she rose and went to Alice’s room and knocked at the door. 
Alice too had lain for some time thinking, and had just fallen 
into a light slumber. She woke with a start and called, 
44 Who’s there?” 

44 Only May. Will you let me in please?” 

44 What do you want, May?” said Alice opening the door. 

44 I couldn’t get to sleep. I’ve been thinking, so I came 
to see if you would let me sleep with you.” 

44 Why yes, if you wish it, to be sure.” Alice had lighted 
the gas and by the light plainly saw May’s nervous manner 
which had in it an appearance almost of distress. This beau- 
tiful young girl in her night dress had never seemed to her so 
much like a helpless child before. She embraced May 
tenderly. 

46 Poor child, you are not well. Tell me what you were 
thinking about. I fear you have been worried about some- 
thing.” 

44 Alice, you must think I’m a ninny, but I’ll get over it 
now when I’m with you.” 

They turned out the gas and retired. Then followed a 
long, confidential chat. It was not long before Alice dis- 
covered that May had been worrying over her own inexpli- 
cable tears of that evening. 

44 Think no more about it, May. It was nothing of any 
consequence.” 

44 But it must have been of consequence or you would not 
have cried about it, Alice. You know you are not like most 
girls. I never saw you shed tears before.” 

44 They were causeless tears perhaps. I can’t tell you, 
May. Please think no more of it.” In her loyalty to her 
brother, and respect for the privacy which should hold family 
troubles sacred, this sister would not betray the brother’s weak- 
ness even to a dear friend. Then if things were as she sus- 
pected, that Tom really loved May, it would only hurt the 
feelings of his beloved to no purpose. Alice Norwell looked 
with approval on Tom’s attentions to May Bryce, and no 
word of hers should ever cause trouble between them. She 
little thought that in making a secret of what really might 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 2 7 


have been divulged with propriety under the circumstances, 
she was laying the foundation of a suspicion that would cause 
her friend much anxiety. 

“ Don’t you think you could tell me,” said May, with a 
hesitating insistence. If she was the cause of her friend’s 
grief, she thought it was best to know it at once. “You 
know I am — am I not a dear friend?” 

“ Oh yes,” rejoined Alice hastily. “But then there are 
things best not to be told at all. This is a family matter.” 
Very true. And there are people who foolishly guard with 
great mystery things which were much better told and done 
with. Little people are happy in making mysteries of little 
things. Some things belong to ourselves and God, some to 
ourselves alone, some to ourselves and our neighbors. True 
wisdom lies not in revealing all or keeping all secret, but in 
knowing what to tell and what to keep secret. What harm 
could result from Alice’s mentioning Tom Norwell’s chronic 
desire for stock gambling when all the world knew it or 
could know it if it chose? Was not May interested in it? 

The conversation ended and Alice was soon in a sound 
sleep. But no rest came to her companion. May never was 
more wide awake. Alice’s mysterious reference to a “family 
matter” tended to confirm her suspicions that the brother and 
sister had in some way quarreled about herself. She knew 
there were no very sure grounds for this surmise, but the 
thought had entered her head and there was no driving it 
out. She wished now she were in her own room, for she 
dared not move lest she might disturb her friend. The clock 
struck one, two, three. Then the people obliged to stir 
abroad early, began to make noises in the streets. It was 
utterly useless trying to go to sleep. May lay quietly and 
watched the first streaks of dawn steal through the chinks of 
the shutters. At length, not knowing how or when, she fell 
into a slumber and obtained an hour’s sleep. She rose fever- 
ish and ill at ease. Alice remarked: 

“I’m afraid you did not rest well. You must be careful 
of your health and sleep well, or our Prairie Flower will lose 
its freshness.” 

Tom Norwell thought over his conversation with Alice, 
after retiring. But his vigorous health forbade his indulging 
any morbid fancies or tossing restlessly. He merely con- 
cluded that he would ask May Bryce and see if she was an 
unsparing foe of speculation too. If his future wife was at 


328 


AN IRON CROWN. 


wide variance with him on any such important subject as this, 
it might be best to know it at once. In fact, Tom had not taken 
to Alice’s advice kindly, because, though he felt in his heart 
she was right, he had already made a heavy venture in Wall 
street. His money had been kept within easy reach so he could 
get at it and take advantage of opportunities. When Grid- 
iron stock approached par, Wall street was greatly surprised 
at the strength it showed. As Mr. Ophir was known to be 
the largest holder, it was evident that he was forcing the stock 
up. The enormous amount of improvement going on in the 
way of terminal facilities, and the building of new lines 
seemed to argue that the Gridiron was about to take its place 
as one of the first-class systems. In that case the stock would 
become permanently valuable. Norwell determined to try a 

deal in it. He invested over twentv thousand dollars, almost 

J 

all the money he had, in Gridiron at eighty. The stock 
crawled upward and he could have doubled and finally 
trebled his money. His broker advised him to sell at par. 
No, Norwell argued, it was too soon to sell. The stock 
would go higher to stay. There was no need of hurry. 
He had made thousands at the very time when Alice urged 
him not to venture anything in stock speculation. He was 
right and she was wrong, he thought. He did not conse- 
quently feel disposed to take such advice kindly. Although 
he would not acknowledge there was anything wrong in such 
transactions, he would like to know what his sweetheart 
thought about it. She might strengthen his position by 
agreeing with him. 

At breakfast, the ladies did not seem very lively. There 
was a constraint about the social atmosphere that lingered in 
spite of Tom’s determination to be good humored. Finally 
it dawned upon him that things were not mending. He 
knew Alice was in a huff the evening before, and a bitter 
thought against her entered his mind, as it occurred to him 
that she might have told May of their petty quarrel. He 
thought that if she had done so, it was an unkind breach of 
faith with him. 'He forgot in his thoughtless vexation that 
he was concealing from his sister the very important fact 
of his engagement to May, which, if known, might place 
the situation all round in a very different light. He de- 
termined to ask May and learn the truth or falsity of his 
suspicions. He soon had an opportunity during the tem- 
porary absence of Alice on some domestic duties. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 2 9 


44 You are very quiet this morning, Prairie Flower.” Tom 
had adopted the name given her by Young Snicker, as one 
very appropriate and beautiful. 

“I sometimes have quiet moods, Tom.” 

44 You have them pretty quiet this morning,” he said, with 
a laugh. But his attempt at gayety elicited only a brief smile 
that indicated anything but joy. 

44 Are you ill, May? You do not look well.” 

44 No, I did not rest well last night.” 

44 Tell me your troubles, little girl,” said Tom, placing his 
arm lovingly around her waist. 44 There’s something wrong, 
and it’s my duty to right it if I can.” It was evident that 
whatever the trouble might be it did not arise from any wan- 
ing of her love for him. His caress, his musical voice and 
his kindly manner gave her a thrill of pleasure that was only 
too manifest. 

44 I am always happy with you, Tom.” 

44 But you must not worry and lose sleep. It is all 
foolishness when there’s nothing to worry about. There’s 
Alice, who occasionally gets into a very dismal state. You 
haven’t caught it from her?” 

44 Oh, I think not.” This reply was not very hearty, and 
Tom suspected that he had been right after all. 

44 I’ll bet she has been filling you with some of her dire 
forebodings, eh?” 

44 No, she hasn’t.” 

44 What did she tell you? Anything?” 

44 No, she refused to tell me anything,” replied May, whose 
guileless openness was unequal to steering clear of something 
which she felt it might be best not to talk about. Tom was 
ashamed of having suspected his sister. Then after a pause, 
he continued : 

44 May, I’ll tell you something that Alice and I talked over 
last night. Alice is opposed to my speculating in stocks. 
She thinks it is not right. What do you think?” May, in- 
tensely relieved to find that her own suspicions had been 
groundless, was happy once more, and thought of nothing 
but her lover. 

44 I don’t know. What is speculation in stocks?” 

Tom was disappointed. It was not to be expected that a 
majority of women should understand the mysteries of finance 
or the peculiar transactions of the Stock Exchange. But here 
was a woman, and that woman his future bride, who did not 


33 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


know what speculation was. He involuntarily thought of 
Chetta Ingledee. Had she been asked such a question, she 
could have expressed an opinion at once — a decided one per- 
haps — and have backed it up with reasons. 

u Stock speculation is — well, in fact, it is buying and sell- 
ing railroad or other stocks.” 

“ What harm is there in that more than in buying or sell- 
ing anything else?” 

1 claim there is none, or at least none worth speaking of. 
Everybody does it.” 

“ Why do they say there is harm in it? If you pay for 
what you get, where can there be any harm?” 

“ I’ll tell you. Say I buy one thousand shares of Western 
Union telegraph stock, and pay five cents on the dollar” — 

“ To bind the bargain.” 

u Well — yes, it’s about that. If it goes up five cents I 
make a good deal of money, and if it goes down five cents I 
lose all I put in.” 

“ But you pay as you go?” 

“ Yes — we have to do that.” 

“ Then I think Alice is wrong. I don’t see any harm in 
it. Father often buys cattle and sells them again before he 
drives them home.” 

Had it been any one else, Tom Norwell would have ex- 
perienced a feeling akin to contempt for such ignorance, as he 
considered it. But since it was his betrothed, he must be pa- 
tient. He saw the utter uselessness of continuing this subject 
further. This girl evidently understood nothing whatever of 
the principles involved in the subject under discussion. He 
overlooked the fact that the subject was one which she had no 
opportunity of understanding. He knew perfectly well, 
though, that if he explained fully just what speculation was, 
and gave in detail all the insidious and dangerous workings 
of this great evil which has penetrated every comer of our 
land, thanks to the telegraph, and which has ruined so many 
men and women, and brought to poverty so many families 
who were accustomed to plenty — he knew that if she under- 
stood all this her keen sense of right would cry out at once 
against this monster evil of specious guise and genteel associa- 
tions. But she understood nothing of it. He was annoyed at 
her simplicity, and for the first time realized that she could in 
some things never be his companion. This particular thing 
was of no consequence, had he not gradually learned that the 
whole current of her life had been different from his. 


AN IRON CROWN. 33 1 

“ Tom,” she said, after a pause, during which his thoughts 
were very busy, “ may I ask you a question?” 

“ Certainly,” 

“Are you quite sure you will not be angry with me?’ 

“ What a question!” he exclaimed, with some surprise, as 
those trusting blue eyes looked up to his. “ How could I be 
angry with you? What is it, dear?” he said, as she still hes- 
itated. 

u When do you think we shall be married?” 

“That is hard to answer. I must make enough money 
first.” 

“ Couldn’t we live on a little?” 

“ Not in New York.” 

“I can wait a long time, Tom, for you. But then I 
thought maybe you were trying to get too much for me. I 
don’t care for much. Couldn’t we live somewhere else on 
less money?” 

“ Yes, but my opportunities are better in New York. I 
am acquainted here, you see.” 

“ I think we could be just as happy on a small income till 
we got better off.” 

“ You know very little of the world, May.’’ She was 
silent a moment, then she began: “ I should like — that is if 

you don’t care ” — then she stopped. 

“ Well, go on,” said Tom kindly. 

“Couldn’t I tell Alice at least of our engagement? It is 
very awkward, you know, besides, I think she expects it.” 

“ I shouldn’t tell her just yet. Alice is a little queer some- 
times. She may object and make present arrangements un- 
pleasant. Then you could not stop in New York very well. 
It is a great bore to have people congratulating you, too. 
You wouldn’t like it, May, at all. The fact is, I have a deal 
in which I hope to make considerable money soon. Then 
when I am sure of it we will declare ourselves to the world 
and marry as soon as we like. We will surprise them. At 
present it is better as it is.” 

“ Oh, I do so hope you will succeed, Tom. You know I 
go home to Illinois next week, so you must write me just as 
soon as you make your fortune. Don’t wait a minute, for 
you know how I shall expect it.” 

“ Mustn’t I write till I make my fortune?” 

“Yes, indeed, you naughty fellow, you must write every 
single day, or I shall be mad at you.” 


33 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


And tell you how all our friends are?” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Gentlemen and ladies?” 

“ I’ve no doubt you could say something about all the 
young ladies. You city men all flirt dreadfully. But if you 
please, Mr. Norwell,” she said, assuming a mock severity, “you 
are on your good behavior so far as young ladies are con- 
cerned.” 

u Even with Miss Snicker?” 

“ Yes, or Miss Ingledee. By the way, Tom, she is a very 
old friend of yours, isn’t she?” 

“Yes, an old friend of the family.” 

“ And a pretty good one, isn’t she? At least she seems 
to me to be.” 

“Why, yes, I hope so,” said Tom carelessly. 


y' 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

RUIN, UTTER RUIN AND DISGRACE. 

The movement in Gridiron stock engineered by Ophir 
and Ingledee had affected other securities, and there was a 
sharp advance all along the line. Gridiron stocks soared 
higher every hour. Thousands of shorts were badly nipped. 
The bulls were squeezing enormous sums out of the bears. 
Tom Norwell was jubilant. He was making thousands, 
almost hour by hour. His broker urged, pleaded that he 
should sell out. Tom was carried away by the excitement. 
When Gridiron reached one hundred, he thought it would 
go to one hundred and twenty-five. Suddenly, and without 
any apparent reason, there was a decline of two or three 
points. Again the broker said sell, but Norwell was not 
alarmed. Holding steady that day, Gridiron dropped heavily 
next day at the opening, and weakened till the close. Every- 
body was puzzled — that is, everybody except the old operat- 
ors, who suspected the nature of the manipulation going on. 
The broker now had no advice to offer. Tom determined 
to hold on and risk the chances of recovering lost ground. 

Next day stocks dropped still lower. Norwell became 
alarmed. He had bought at a rather high figure after the 


j 


AN IRON CROWN. 


333 


advance began, and a few more points would wipe out his 
profits and endanger his investment. He became exceedingly 
anxious, and watched the quotations as a man struggling 
for life in the water watches the approach of a rescuing 
boat. But the inexorable figures recorded only disaster. 
Down, down, down went Gridiron till Tom’s twenty thou- 
sand dollars were nearly wiped out. Soon the broker would 
demand more margins or close the deal, and with it close 
Tom’s hopes. Norwell knew that the little money he had 
remaining available was scarcely a drop in this seething 
Niagara. He stared at the ticker like a man demented, then 
would rush into the street wildly, only to rush back again 
and look at the slowly crawling paper ribbon with the quo- 
tations. There! The margin is gone and with it twenty 
thousand dollars original investment and five times the sum 
in profits since the highest point had been reached. 

In desperation and with trembling fingers Norwell drew 
a check for one thousand dollars, and put it up as additional 
margin. The confusion and excitement were indescribable. 
Men acted more like lunatics or wild animals in a stampede 
than rational human beings. It was every one to save him- 
self, if possible, though hundreds were already bankrupt after 
enormous losses. Such times are as bad as battle to upset 
men’s sober reason. They meet. They consult excitedly. 
They rush to a neighboring office, then rush back again, 
scarce knowing what they do. They delay. They resort to 
artifices, and strive to gain time by trickery. They shout, 
they swear, they gesticulate. But the inexorable fate in the 
person of the dreadful ticker cuts one by one their puny 
threads, and down they sink, to rise no more in Wall street. 
Only the men of uncommon coolness and nerve, backed by 
experience, manage to retain complete control of their senses 
in such a crisis. Norwell was cognizant only of a frenzied 
determination to hold on. Everybody felt sure that stocks 
would soon rally. The broker felt confident of this too. If 
Norwell could only hold out he might yet save himself. 

If malignant spirits are allowed to roam this earth and 
tempt weak mortals, as many estimable people believe, ignor- 
ing man’s natural fertility of evil, one must have whispered 
in Norwell’ s ear. Just around the corner, in the vaults of a 
bank, lay Alice’s bonds, — twenty- five thousand dollars in first- 
class six per cent, securities of a prosperous Western city. 
Tom always carried the key of the vault drawer. It occurred 


334 


AN IRON CROWN. 


to him to borrow these bonds for one day only. Alice 
would never know it, and was he not justifiable in using her 
money to save his own? But he had no time to think over 
the matter. The ticker was busy recording another decline. 
In a few minutes the bonds as collateral were in the broker’s 
hands, and Norwell, confident that he was safe, went out to 
lunch, feeling greatly relieved from the terrible strain under 
which he had been laboring. 

Meeting Hickley on the street, the two went together to 
a quiet restaurant several blocks distant, a favorite resort of 
the lawyer’s. 

“Lively times in Wall street,” said Hickley, as they 
walked along the quiet street which led to their destination. 

“ Rather lively.” 

“Are you in, Norwell?” 

“ Somewhat, yes.” 

“I couldn’t stand the excitement of such business. It 
would kill me.” 

“Is it worse than politics, Hickley?” asked Tom, turning 
the tables. 

“ Why, of course it is, unless perhaps when a man is 
running for President, or something of that sort. Politics as 
a trade is a bad enough business.” 

“Yes, it is at times a pretty dirty trade.” 

“ But no worse than stock gambling. I’m ashamed of 
politics myself, Norwell, and am trying to get out of it. 
As for the other, thank God, I value my peace of mind too 
much to try that. How do you stand on the deal, Norwell?” 

“ I was a hundred thousand ahead, but I’ve dropped back 
a little,” said Norwell evasively. 

“ Close out and keep out. If you had come to me, I 
might have given you a pointer.” 

“ What?” 

“I’ll not say what since you didn’t come in time; but 
you know I am attorney for a certain railroad, and what I 
say must be in strict confidence. There’s a nigger in the 
woodpile.” 

“ Who is he, and where is he ?” 

“No matter who he is. I can only guess. Get out and 
stay out.” 

Before the close of business the concealed African gave 
the woodpile a tremendous shaking up. Out of his mere 
Ethiopian wantonness he sent billets flying hither and thither 


AN IRON CROWN. 


335 


like leaves before a gale. His sport was no sport for the 
street, and several small firms, with one or two large ones, 
closed their doors. With a rush Gridiron settled to its old 
quotations, which it had maintained for several weeks before. 
When the hour for closing arrived, Tom Norwell’s last dol- 
lar and Alice’s bonds had sunk out of sight. He and his 
sister were again penniless. 

Norwell was so completely stunned by the disaster that 
he could scarcely realize what had happened. For the first 
time in his life he felt ill. He felt a weakness and confusion 
of ideas that he had never before experienced. He was inca- 
pable of thinking coherently, and lacked the courage to dwell 
on the consequences of the disaster that had befallen him. 
It must be only a dream, he said to himself. He started to 
walk, mechanically, not knowing or caring whither he went. 
Before he was aware of his direction, he found himself on the 
wharf at the Battery. A sudden and irresistible impulse came 
over him to throw himself into the water and end the losing: 
battle of life. Then he thought of his sister, and how cruel 
and cowardly it would be to desert her in her poverty. He 
began walking again. At last, without knowing how, he 
found himself far up in the outskirts of Brooklyn. He had 
classed the ferry and paid his fare without being conscious of 
the fact. 

He returned to New York. He was gradually regaining 
control of himself, and the thought that constantly tortured 
him was, “How can I tell her?” Starting up town by some 
unknown impulse he took the Bowery instead of Broadway, 
and branching off to the east side, soon found himself at Pipe 
Malley & Co.’s store. It was now seven o’clock in the 
evening, and he remembered that Alice would be anxious 
because he had not come home to dinner. Fortunately, he 
recollected that May Bryce had said adieu that morning, and 
gone to her aunt’s, intending to leave soon for Illinois. He 
was very glad of it. Now the wedding must be deferred a 
long time. His misfortune was all the harder because it 
involved loved ones. As for himself, he could have easily 
borne it. 

Entering the store Norwell bought a couple of oranges, 
for he was very thirsty and tired, as he all at once realized. 
He sat down and commenced to peel an orange with des- 
perate calmness. He picked off every little fiber of adhering 
rind, prolonging the operation as much as possible. He 


33 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


dreaded to go home, and this trivial employment was a pro- 
crastination of the final trial which he must undergo. Pipe 
eyed him curiously. At length he said : 

“ Mr. Norwell, I’m awful glad you dropped in. I want 
to ask your advice, 5 cos I know you kin tell me.” 

“ What is it Malley? ” asked Tom, without looking up. 

“ Do you know any capitalist as could negotiate an’ loan 
a feller twenty-five dollars? ” 

Looking at the boy Norwell saw, what under other cir- 
cumstances he would have noticed at first, that Pipe appeared 
ill at ease. The young man had nervously dusted the counter, 
and looked in the money drawer several times with no ap- 
parent object. 

“ Well, I don’t know, Pipe,” said Tom. “ I suppose that 
means that you are asking me for a loan?” 

“ I reckon that’s about the size of it. It’s awful cheeky, 
I know, but you see you’re more like an old friend than any- 
body I knows- that’s got money. Fact is, I’m in a fix. I’ve 
got some paper out an’ I got ter raise twenty-five dollars 
more to meet it.” Pipe spoke of having paper out with a 
conscious pride that his mercantile transactions had grown 
to such an extent that they could not be managed any longer 
on a cash basis. Judging from his evident anxiety, however, 
he would gladly have exchanged the doubtful honor of 
having paper out for the paper itself. “ You see if I don’t 
meet it them bank roosters won’t wait a minnit. They’ll put 
it into a potest, an’ then my credit’s gone up higher’n a kite.” 
“I see,” said Tom reflectively, as he began peeling a 
second orange. 

“ I kin git it from mother. She has mor’n that tied up in 
a flannen rag, but I ain’t the kind to go spongin’ on my 
mother ’nless I have to. If I can’t raise it — but there’s no use 
talkin’ that way, I’ve got to raise it — wy I ’spose I’ll have to 
call on her fur it.” Tom took out his pocketbook. There 
was some two hundred dollars in it, which he had forgotten 
in the excitement of the day, or that too would have gone. 

“ Here is twenty-five dollars, Pipe. I should be sorry to 
see you in trouble. Pay me when you can.” 

“Thank’ee, Mr. Norwell. I’ll write a note.” 

“ That’s all right, Malley, I want no note. What is this 
debt for, Pipe? ” 

“Well you see, I bought a stock of goods part cash, an’ 
give a note fur the balance. Biz was good an’ chink come in 


AN IRON CROWN. 


337 


like dirt. It looked so plenty that I put twenty-five into 
stocks, an’ the tumble jist about knocked that out first round. 
The broker says I ought to have twenty-five more to-morrer, 
or the whole thing’s gone up. I can’t raise it an’ pay the 
note too.” £* 

“ Pipe Malley, take my advice. Let that deal go and 
never take another. Keep the twenty-five dollars to pay 
your note.” 

“ Wot! an lose wot’s in?” 

“ Yes, you will probably lose it any way. 

“ But the broker says he thinks — ” 

“ Pay no attention to the broker. Keep clear of him in 
future.” Something in Norwell’s manner aroused Pipe’s 
suspicions. 

“ Mr. Norwell, was you in too? ” 

“ Yes, and got nipped too. I tell you this hoping it will 
influence you to keep out.” 

“ I’m awful sorry. Was you nipped bad? ” 

“ Pretty badly.” 

“ Awful bad ? ” 

“Yes bad enough, I can tell you.” 

“ It’s a ding rotted shame the way them Wall street chaps 
cheats honest fellers like us. Say, Mr. Norwell, if you got 
nipped, mebbe you need this money?” 

“No, Pipe, not if it will save you from the sheriff; 
keep it.” 

“ But, if I let that deal flicker, I don’t need it. I kin 
squeeze through on the note. Take back yer money, Mister 
Norwell. I wouldn’t take it from you fur anything in the 
world under them circumstances.” 

“Just as you say, Malley.” 

“ I’d a heap ruther you would.” 

Norwell pocketed the money, and commenced his journey 
homeward, the saddest of his life. Mr. Pipe Malley went 
home that evening in no very amiable mood. As Pipe, Mrs. 
Malley, and Quill were gathered round the breakfast table 
next morning, it was evident that sleep had not fully restored 
serenity to the head of the house, Pipe having, by general 
consent, gradually risen to that responsible dignity. After 
an interval of silence, .during which Pipe had been laboring 
assiduously with a large slice of ham and two eggs turned, 
that young gentleman renewed the conversation: 

“We can’t stand no sich extravagance as this, mother. 


22 


33 8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Look at this ere lay out,” and he laid down his knife and fork 
to survey the table. “ Ham, an’ eggs, an’ butter, an’ cream, an’ 
sugar, all to wunst. We’re livin’ too high.” 

Mrs. Malley, who was pouring out her third cup of coffee, 
set down the coffee pot in amazement. Quill, who was just 
in the act of sticking his fork into a third fried egg, received 
such a start that he almost dropped the egg on the tablecloth. 
H e managed, however, to land it dexterously on his plate, 
when he paid no futher attention to the egg, but made a furi- 
ous onslaught on the u heel ” of a loaf, which portion ordi- 
narily his epicurean taste was inclined to reject. It might be 
sound policy to eat crust this morning as a ruse to divert 
Pipe’s attention from the riotous luxury surrounding him. 

“ Dear me suz, Pipey. I don’t see any high livin’. I’ve 
always had plenty, an’ Pm always goin’ to have it while I’m 
able to work.” 

“But I tell ye, mother, high livin’ costs like fun, an’ be- 
sides, it ain’t healthy. The doctors all say so.” 

“Lord help me boy, where do you see any high livin’? 
Just name the article, won’t ye?” 

“ Well, there’s Quill jist gittin’ away with the third egg.” 
That gentleman’s little stratagem with the crust had proved 
a miserable failure. He had wrenched his jaw all to no pur- 
pose. He muttered something about “ likin’ a negg as well 
as anybody.” 

“ Bettern’ anybody,” growled Pipe. 

“ Now, Pipe, you’re in a bad humor this mornin’. You’d 
better swaller your breakfast an’ light right out to yer work, 
an’ you’ll feel better by noon. If Quill wants three eggs he’s 
goin’ to have ’em as long as I’m able to cook ’em, mind that 
now.” 

“ I tell ye three eggs ain’t healthy. Any doctor will tell 
ye that.” 

“ Bad luck to the doctors. I ain’t livin’ for doctors. When 
your poor fayther was took what did the doctors do? Nothin’ 
but send in their bill. Faith boy, is it starvin’ us you are 
goin’ to try ? ” 

“ Yer not goin’ to starve, mother; yer sweetenin’ the third 
cup o’ coffee now. Two cups is enough fur anybody. Coffee 
perduces effects in the stummick, an’ most likely in the lights 
too.” 

“ Pipe, I think yer clean gone out o’ yer senses. Yer 
talkin’ like a crazy man. Do you think I’d do without me 


AN IRON CROWN. 


339 


coffee? It never hurt my lights. An’ if it did, I’m not 
savin’ me lights to will to somebody. I’m a usin’ ’em myself. 
I'll not care for ’em when the rest of me’s done, I guess. 
But yer jawin’ like an old man with the rheumatiz. What’s 
the matter with ye this mornin’?” 

“ I can’t stand sich extravagance. Cos I’m in business I 
hain’t a millionaire yet. I’ve got some paper to meet.” 

“ Wrappin’ paper is it? Sure me boy, 111 lend ye some o’ 
me laundry paper.” 

“Wrappin’ paper!” said Pipe, exhibiting mingled pity 
and disgust. “ Mother, it ain’t much use to tell you or 
Quill anything about business. But then of course you never 
was in business, an’ hain’t expected to know* wot paper is. 
Paper is notes. 1 got a note to meet to-day.” 

“To meet, did you say? ” 

“ Y es, to pay.” 

“ Notes is a bad business, Pipey. How much is the note?” 
“ Twenty-five dollars.” Pipe named the amount of this 
enormous obligation with a stress that seemed to swell the 
sum total to twenty-five thousand. 

“Ah, Pipe, it’s a bad day when you make debts. How 
did you ever get into debt head over heels like that? Take 
warnin’ by yer fayther. Five hundred dollars doesn’t grow 
on bushes. Yer fayther thro wed money round like he 
owned a mint. It went into whiskey in the wholesale lick- 
er trade, though I think a deal of the stuff went retail, an’ 
then by bad debts an’ by hook an’ crook he failed intirely and 
left us all without a cent. Misfortune sent yer poor fayther 
to the graveyard. Pipe, how did ye ever do it? How 
could ye get into debt like that?” 

“ I tell yer it takes capital to carry on a business. Now 
it’s done, an’ that’s the main thing.” 

“ Pipe, don’t worry any more. I’ve three times the sum 
all in clean gold. I’ll loan you twenty-five.” 

“ No, mother, I can squeeze along without it somehow. 
I won’t borrow money. It hain’t safe to do business on 
borrered capital. I can’t pay Quill’s salary for two weeks, 
mebbe, an’ I guess, Quill, you’ll have to pack that ’ere last 
consignment of oranges up from the wholesaler’s. They’ll be 
invoisted to us to-day. So git yer hat, we must be stirrin’.” 
With this Pipe went into the front room looking for some- 
thing. The last fried egg was lying on the plate. Quill 
had furtively cast longing eyes on it for some time. Mrs. 


34 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Malley, with a mother’s instinct, read his wishes in his face. 
Scarcely had Pipe turned his back before she took up the dish 
and a knife and giving the egg a dexterous turn, landed it on 
his plate. At two bites it had disappeared, but being fried 
rather hard the egg refused to go down readily. This was 
an emergency. Pipe was waiting and they must go to the 
store. But Quill’s long experience in such exigencies brought 
him through triumphantly, as it had done many times before. 
A great gulp of cold coffee did the business, and hastily 
wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Quill joined 
Pipe outside. i 

On that eventful evening, Tom Norwell reached home 
about eight o’clock. His sister, who had been surprised at 
his not appearing in time for their dinner at six, finally con- 
cluded that he had been detained on business. Meeting him 
at the door, she inquired: 

u What delayed you, Tom? I expected you at dinner.” 
“ I think I did not start as early as usual, Alice,” he re- 
plied in a husky voice. He took off his hat, and instead of 
hanging it on the rack, stood holding it in his hand. She 
saw at once there was something the matter. He could not 
face her and conceal the agony he was suffering. “ Brother, 
what is the matter? You are ill?” She took his hat and hung 
it on the rack. Then he followed her mechanically into the 
small parlor. As the full light of the gas fell on his face 
she could see that he was suffering keenly. A few hours 
had drawn deep lines on his brows and around the mouth. 
A stranger would scarcely have recognized his haggard 
countenance. 

“ Tom, you are ill,” she said anxiously. u What is it?” 
u I think I have over-exerted myself to-day.” 

He dared not look her in the face as he told this poor 
miserable lie, the first of his life. He felt that his dreadful 
confession must be made then and there, but every moment 
of respite was sweet. He would willingly, yes gladly, have 
died to make reparation to this sister, who was so dear to 
him. 

u I’ll get you some sponge cake and wine.” 

“ Oh, no,” he said, in a tone which to her ear was full of 
anguish. “ I couldn’t eat anything — I think — I am not well.” 
“Tom, what is it?” she said, drawing close to him and 
placing her hand on his shoulder. Then, as she remembered 
that there had been a flurry in Wall street, she asked: 


AN IRON CROWN. 



“ Is it stocks?” 

“ Yes,” answered Tom, with a moan. 

“ I’ve feared this for a long time.” Then, in a gentler 
tone, she asked: 

“ Is it bad ?” 

“ Everythinsr.” 

u Poor boy’, certainly something is left.” 

“ Nothing. I put in every dollar. I’m a beggar.” Still 
he dared not tell her all. 

“Well, Tom, I am just as sorry as you are. It isn’t 
much comfort now to talk about looking at the bright side of 
things. But then we haven’t lost everything, and you shall 
share mine. We can both get along on that till you find 
something to do.” 

“ Oh, sister, don’t talk of sharing,” he groaned. There 
was a pause, and she replied in a confused way, dimly real- 
izing the import of his remark: 

“ Tom, I don’t understand you.” * 

“There’s nothing to share, sister. I’m a base villain; 
I’ve robbed you. Dear sister, you are a beggar, and I’m 
the cause of it.” His tone was piteous. He was not depre- 
cating her just anger like a coward, but only giving way to 
the pent-up feelings of contrition that welled in his heart. 
After a moment’s pause, during which he awaited his sen- 
tence, she began in a tone of hot indignation: 

“ And you have done this; you, my own brother. I told 
you it would come to this, but you laughed at my fears and 
my tears. I told you it made men paupers, and what is 
worse, rogues, liars, and thieves — yes thieves,” she added, in 
a hard tone. 

“I am to blame.. I have robbed you,” was his only 
answer. 

“And I warned you, too.” 

“I know you did. You need not spare me. I don’t de- 
serve it.” 

“To think it should come to this, that men will steal 
bread from their wives and children and sisters. God cer- 
tainly will curse such doings.” 

“ Alice, I did wrong. I deserve no longer your respect, 
but the word thief is a hard one.” 

“ What’s the use of mincing words?” 

“ There’s none. Let it stand. Some day you may be 
sorry for saying it. If God gives me life and strength, I 


34 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


will pay you every cent. I shall never forget that you were 
once my sister.” He turned to leave the room. She tried 
to stop him. 

“ Oh, Tom, dear brother, don’t go away like that. I 
was angry, and spoke too hastily. Come back.” He never 
seemed to hear her at all, but taking his hat, walked slowly 
into the street. 

“ I was too hasty. He was sorely tempted. I ought to 
have carried the key of the vault drawer myself. Oh, the 
miserable money! I have lost my brother, my only dear one. 
Money always brings us a curse.” She sank into a chair and 
wept tears of bitter sorrow. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A FRIEND IN NEED. 

Next morning at breakfast they sat for a long time in 
silence. At length Alice said: 

“ Tom, I wouldn’t worry about the money. We are both 
young and strong. We can easily get along.” 

“ I care nothing for myself, Alice. It’s only for you.” 

“ Let us forget all that. Forgive me for saying what I 
did last night. I was hasty. Won’t you forgive me? ” she 
repeated, as he made no answer. 

“ I think you were very hard on me Alice, even if I had 
done you a great wrong. I will keep my word and repay 
you every cent.” 

“Let us not talk of the money, Tom, only say you for- 
give me.” 

“ Yes, Alice, I forgive you, though it is I who should beg 
forgiveness. We’ll say no more about it.” 

But in spite of his words, which were fair, Alice felt that 
an estrangement had begun between her and her brother. 
He fulty realized the wrong he had done, but her sharp 
words had cut like a knife and wounded his pride. He could 
never meet his sister again on equal terms till he repaid her 
what he had lost of hers. 

The Nor wells were again very poor. They made ar- 
rangements to give up their comfortable apartments, and 


AN IRON CROWN. 


343 


board in a cheap locality where living was less expensive. 
Alice resolved that she would now continue her studies in 
short-hand and prepare to make her own living. When 
Chetta Tngledee heard of their ill-luck she was in deep 'dis- 
tress. She regretted that she had not gone directly to Tom 
and warned him of danger. Obedience to parents is a sacred 
duty and the ties of kindred enjoin the patriotism of blood, 
which is next to the love of country. But there are times 
when loyalty, even to parents, may be a crime instead of a 
virtue. This was such an occasion. As Chetta thought that 
a call upon Alice would, at the present time, probably be re- 
ceived in rather bad grace she determined to reach Tom more 
directly. So she invited him to call, ostensibly with reference 
to the arrangements for a social affair she had in hand. 

Tom came and passed an hour or so very pleasantly. 
Chetta was very kind. Finally, she alluded to the late finan- 
cial crisis and remarked that she had heard that some of her 
friends were caught on the wrong side of the market. 

“ Yes,” he said, with as cheerful an air as he could assume. 
u Some of us did get slightly worsted.” 

“ Were your losses heavy, Mr. Norwell? ” 

“ Much heavier than I can afford,” he replied, making no 
attempt at concealment from one whom he felt was after all 
perhaps the most sympathetic and appreciative friend he had 
in the world. 

“ I’m very sorry. Such things are not right.” 

“ I blame no one, Miss Ingledee. I was unfortunate, that 
was all.” 

As best she could, on this delicate subject, Chetta poured 
the balm of sympathy on his disappointed feelings. There 
was no effusive bubbling of hyperbolic adjectives. He felt 
that her sorrow for his misfortune was real. Then with it 
came, all of a sudden, the revelation to his soul that this 
woman could understand his nature and sympathize with it 
as no other could. With it came the warning that he was 
scarcely loyal to May Bryce, even in harboring such a thought, 
and that it was not best for him to meet Miss Ingledee often. 

Before he left, Chetta inquired about Alice and her friend 
May Bryce, and why they had not called upon her. Tom 
was scarcely prepared to explain satisfactorily why they had 
failed to call, and was slightly embarrassed by the question. 
In truth, he had never encouraged his sister to take May to 
call on Chetta Ingledee. He did not care to have these 


344 


AN IRON CROWN. 


women meet at all. No good could come of their knowing 
each other, and there was imminent danger that each might 
misconstrue his friendliness with the other. Chetta saw that 
her various attempts to obtain information indirectly, concern- 
ing May Bryce, were not very successful. She persisted how- 
ever, until Tom told her that his sister’s guest was the daughter 
of an Illinois farmer, and had been visiting an aunt in the 
East. She was a great friend of Alice’s, though, he added 
parenthetically, he believed that girls always had to have a 
very, very intimate, dear right-hand friend of their own sex 
some time or other, usually in fact, a succession of them. 

With this explanation Chetta was obliged for the present 
to be content, though by no means satisfied. She could not for- 
get her brother’s surmise about that “other girl,” and she still 
had a suspicion that May was the person in question. Again 
at times she thought that her suspicions did Tom Norwell an 
injustice, for he was always very agreeable, and gave no sign 
whatever of being offended with her. He merely kept away 
without appearing to try to avoid her. Perhaps, she reasoned, 
if he were in some settled occupation and prosperous again, 
he would once more be the jolly, good-natured Tom Norwell 
he had once been, and better still, her lover. She would aid 
him by her influence, as she had done before. 

When Chetta Ingledee once formed a conception of what 
was the best thing to be done, she did not allow the idea to 
perish of inanity, while she speculated indecisively as to 
whether she would really attempt it. With her action fol- 
lowed thought as surely, and as much a consequence, as 
fatigue follows exercise. The next morning at breakfast the 
father and daughter were alone, Silas not yet having appeared. 

“ Papa, I wish you could retire from business. Have you 
not enough alreadv? ” 

“ Why to be sure, daughter, so far as money goes, I had 
enough long ago. I make money now because the habit 
grows on me. I love the activity which has led me on to 
fortune. And then each additional million means so much 
more influence, so much power, so many triumphs over my 
rivals.” 

“ Papa, do you think you always use this power aright? 
Power may be a very dangerous thing in the wrong hands.” 

“ My child, you don’t understand the intricate, occult in- . 
fluences which permeate great financial operations. All 
changes in the commercial, religious or political condition of 


AN IRON CROWN. 345 

a nation take place according to fixed natural laws. It is one 
of nature’s laws that there must be very rich men.” 

“I think that is man’s law rather than God’s.” 

“ Now you are talking nonsense, my daughter. You must 
not decide such questions from accidental circumstances and 
superficial observation.” 

“ I do not pretend to understand all about these things, 
but I do understand one thing, and that is that good men suf- 
fer by these money disturbances. Look at Mr. Norwell for 
instance. And now his son has lost everything.” 

“ I am sorry for Thomas Norwell. I told him if he ever 
wanted to deal to come to me and I would give him as- 
sistance, but you see he chose to depend on his own judgment, 
and in consequence lost. I’m afraid Norwell is not doing the 
best lately.” As Mr. Ingledee said this he quickly scanned 
his daughter’s face, but she betrayed no sign of unusual in- 
terest, much less surprise. 

“ What do you mean, papa?” 

“ Well, he is growing reckless. I hear he gambles too.” 
c< Papa, I do not believe a word of that.” 

“ I have it from good authority.” 
u Did Silas tell you? ” 

“ No, Chetta, I could scarcely get such information from 
Silas.” 

“Then I don’t believe it.” 

“ I scarcely think myself he has followed it far, but a be- 
ginning is dangerous.” 

Mr. I ngledee said this utterly unconscious of the direct 
application of the principle to the methods by which his own 
fortune had been acquired. In his mind no relation whatever 
existed between making a fictitious sale and thereby wagering- 
a heavy sum, and betting on cards. He would have denied 
the relation indignantly, had any one pointed it out. The 
verbal distinction existing between the words business and 
gambling had for him all the force of a moral one. Thou- 
sands of men besides railway kings, are unable or unwilling to 
see that rechristening an evil and stamping it with public 
approval, does not make it right. 

“ Papa, don’t you think we could help Mr. Norwell some 
way ?” 

“ How do you mean ?” 

“ Perhaps there is some position on some of your lines?” 
w Nothing that he would care for; besides, he would have 


34 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


to go to the Pacific coast in all probability, which most likely 
he would not like to do. Ophir’s interests and connections 
with Eastern roads might help him.” 

“ Would you speak to Mr. Ophir?” As Chetta said this, 
she thought of that interview in Ingledee’s private office. 
She knew he could if he would. 

M I have already asked one great favor of Ophir in connec- 
tion with this young man. I scarcely like the idea of becom- 
ing his intercessor a second time. Besides, Norwell might not 
thank me for it.” 

a You might at least give him the chance.” 
w Chetta, do you really wish this?” 

« I do.” 

u Is there anything you have not told me? Is Tom Nor- 
well anything more than a friend to you?” 

“ He is not,” replied Chetta, coloring slightly. 
u Do you expect him to be?” 

u Papa, I think even you have scarcely the right to ask me 
this question under the circumstances. Tom Norwell has al- 
ways been our friend, as you know. What he may think of 
our family I have no means of knowing. No one would mis- 
understand you, I think, in this matter.” 

It was arranged after considerable j^ersuasion on her part 
that Ingledee should use his influence with Ophir to obtain 
Norwell a situation with one of the great railway lines. 
Hickley was to be asked to inform Tom, so that the latter 
might never know just how he came by the offer. He would 
not accept anything that came directly from Ophir in any 
shape. Chetta was happy. She knew the full extent of her 
father’s influence just then with Ophir. 

Meantime the Norwells were to experience once more a 
hard, disagreeable fact, a fact hoary with antiquity, that noth- 
ing so tries friendship as a change of fortune. A severe finan- 
cial reverse will separate true friends from the chaff of hol- 
low friendship as certainly as the magnet selects iron filings 
from a heap of litter, leaving the fluff and dust. Prosperity 
warms at the hearth of friendship, while poverty freezes in 
the entry. I said true friends, but after all, may not a friend 
as honestly admire your fine house as yourself? He is a true 
friend after his kind. Around the Snicker family altar — I do 
not mean the altar which a sentimental tradition still tacitly 
ascribes to the belongings of every well-regulated household, 
but, which in the Snicker family usually stood silent and de- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


347 


serted because it was so dreadfully common, — it was the new 

%/ ' 

altar, the altar of Mammon, whence a cloud of incense sweet 
with tons and tons of sugar, perpetually rose, as the Snicker 
high priest, clad in the broadest of phylacteries, proudly swung 
his golden censer — at this family altar the Norwells were 
discussed and done for in a very brief space. 

44 Norwell’s busted again, Matilda,” said the Old Commoner 
sententiously to his thin, negative consort. 

44 Overtrading, I suppose?” 

44 Overtrading!” he replied, with a spice of contempt for 
her ignorance. 44 No; foolhardy speculation. He’s not in 
business at all.” 

44 1 did not know that, Amaziah.” With this active par- 
ticipation in the conversation, Mrs. Snicker relapsed into her 
normal vacuum. 

44 Say, Pa,” queried Fred Snicker, with a languishing drawl, 
44 when you went into molasses, and that sort of thing, you 
know, was that speculation, or was it — what the deuce was it 
now ?” 

44 I’ve told you that, about fifty times, Fred,” growled Mr. 
Snicker. 

44 Yes, I know Pa, but then really now, never having been 
in business, and knowing nothing about sugar and such things, 
one is not to be expected to remember those disagreeable 
details.” 

44 Well, I was in business, and I bought a legitimate ar- 
ticle, not exactly on speculation, but simply made very heavy 
purchases — of a legitimate article, mind you — if sugar an’ 
molasses isn’t legitimate what is, Fd like to know.” Mr. 
Snicker raised his .voice a trifle as if he expected some one 
would attempt to controvert so daring an assertion. No one 
did so, and the legitimacy of sugar was established. He went 
on: 44 Sugar bein’ a legitimate article, it was bound to go up 

when the war began and cut off the supply. Anybody could 
see that — I mean anybody, with a head long enough. It takes 
no common head to ingineer such a deal. Norwell has no 
head for speculation. His forte is — well, I think his forte is 
to keep clear of it.” 

44 Hadn’t I better mark them off my list when I have my 
birthday party, Ma?” said Harrie. 

44 As you think best, child. Pa, what do you say?” 

44 What do I say? What do I know about such things? 
If vou don’t want ’em cross ’em off, that’s all.” 


3+S 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Tom isn’t a bad sort of pwerson,” drawled Fred. “Some- 
times he is a little abwupt, but I like to see a man of spirit. 
I told him last time that he was abwupt that really a fellow 
couldn’t be expected to stand that sort of thing always. When 
he saw I was in earnest he apologized handsomely, and said 
he was very sorry to offend a friend. Really, I haven’t any- 
thing against Tom Nor well.” 

“ Fred, I think you shouldn’t get into so many rows with 
the fellows.” 

“ I think, Harrie, I can take care of myself,” he said, ex- 
hibiting a little of the sanguinary disposition which might be 
expected to crop out, were he sufficiently provoked. 

“ I never could see why Alice Nor well goes to parties,” 
continued Harrie. “She doesn’t like dancing. She only tastes 
the supper, and she pretends to be dreadfully down on flirting. 
It’s my opinion she’s down on it because young men don’t take 
to her. I think I’ll cut them, Pa. You see they haven’t the 
means now to give parties. I don’t think they’ve the right 
to go to parties.” 

“ No right under heaven ! We should pay as we go. I 
think I should drop them. That’s a good enough reason.” 
Mr. Snicker regarded social obligations, as he did all others, 
from a monetary standpoint. He worshiped at a very fash- 
ionable church because there the Snicker family could hear 
the gospel, amid surroundings commensurate with the size 
of the Snicker bank account. He gave to charity because as an 
abstract principle charity must be right, since everybody ad- 
mitted it, and because other rich people had set the fashion of 
giving to charity. Hence, their giving implied an obligation 
of Snicker’s to give, and he did give, to his credit, be it said, 
with no mean hand. But he never gave, concealing from the 
left hand what the right hand did. With him charity and 
publicity went together. Had Tom Nor well just returned 
from Sing Sing and been about to give a swell party in com- 
memoration of his release, it would doubtless have been the 
proper thing for the Snickers to accept his invitation, that is 
judging from the family’s idea of the purposes and proprieties 
of society. It would have been right because the Snickers 
had the means to repay such obligations in kind with a reason- 
able prospect of adding interest thereto. Mr. Snicker mi ght 
perhaps have been a little startled by any such concrete ap- 
plication of his principles, but there is where his logic must 
land him eventually. So the inexorable pencil of high so- 


AN IRON CROWN. 349 

ciety’s stern auditing clerks was drawn pitilessly through the 
names of Tom and Alice Norwell on many a list. 

But they still had friends, and good ones, too, though some 
of them were neither rich nor famous. Mary Hackett called 
on Alice to tell her that the firm for which she worked wanted 
an intelligent lady to manage their correspondence. Mrs. 
Malley called, with a little remembrance from Pipe Malley 
& Co., in the shape of a basket of fruit in which were a half 
dozen superb oranges, a half dozen long golden bananas, sev- 
eral very large red-cheeked apples, and some luscious grapes. 
Under the pink netting was slipped a large card printed in 
very black letters, “Pipe Malley & Co., dealers in fine foreign 
and domestic fruits.” Above this in rather laborious, but 
very plain letters, was written, “ Compliments of” in Pipe’s 
own hand. 

“ The boys,” said Mrs. Malley, “have sent you and vour 
brother a little fruit, if ye’ll pardon the liberty, Miss Nor- 
well. Pipe and yer brother are acquainted like, I believe.” 
“Thank you. Are you Mrs. Malley?” 

“ That’s me name. The twins is me boys. I was cornin’ 
this way and thought Pd bring it meself.” 

- “ Come in, Mrs. Malley,” said Alice kindly. “ Will you 

take off your bonnet and sit down?” 

“ Pve hardly the time, Ma’am,” said Mrs. Malley, who 
seated herself nevertheless. “ Pipe thought you’d like a bit 
o’ fruit, may be.” 

“ It was very kind of them. What fine fruit it is.” 
“They keeps only the best. Pipe says he’s goin’ to 
work up a reputation for havin’ only the best.” 

“ Mrs. Malley, please say that my brother and I thank 
your sons very much for this present.” 

“ It’s not worth mentionin’, Miss, at all. Pipe said your 
brother had lost some money lately.” 

“Yes, he did meet with losses.” 

“ And I’m one that knows how to sympathize with you, 
Miss, for Mr. Malley went to the grave fur grief.” Alice 
Norwell scarcely understood why the late Mr. Malley went 
to the grave for an article which may be found almost any- 
where this side of it. She waited for Airs. Alalley to finish. 
“Poor man, after slavin’ for years, him an’ me scraped to- 
gether a start in the world an’ lost it all.” 

“Indeed!” 

“ Yes, he went into business, and he wasn’t hardly fit for 
it, I think.” 


35 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ What business did he go into?” 

“ Wholesale licker. That man thro wed five hundred 
dollars right into whiskey and lost every red cent of it.” 

“ What a pitv. But business is uncertain.” 

“It is in truth, Ma’am. Some say Mr. Malley couldn’t 
keep things agoin’. They went from bad till worse, an’ the 
sheriff' shut up the store. It broke his heart, too,” — here 
' Mrs. Malley alluded to her late husband, not to the obdurate 
minion of the law — “ an’ I follered him to the grave.” 

“ We must expect trouble in this world.” 

“ Ye’re wrong there, Miss. There’s no use expectin’ it. 
It’ll come soon enough without. If Mr. Malley had only 
kept out o’ whiskey it would have been all right.” 

Mrs. Malley omitted to say that when her late husband 
went into the business of liquor merchant he became his own 
regular customer, and seemed gradually to become possessed 
with the idea that the best thing to do was to drink up all his 
stock himself. He carried out this ambitious project with un- 
flagging zeal, aided by a few of those zealous friends who are 
never known to desert a man in such an emergency. They 
had well-nigh accomplished this thirsty undertaking when 
the business suddenly went to the dogs, and Mr. Malley re- 
tired to the graveyard for grief, leaving a widow to struggle 
with life, encumbered by a pair of twins, and possessed of 
only good health and willing hands. After some further 
expressions of sympathy, Mrs. Malley took her departure. 

Tom Norwell was now beginning to recover from the 
dark despair into which he had been plunged by his great re- 
verse of fortune. His health and elastic spirits inspired him 
with hope that somehow all would yet be well. He thought 
of going West, where there were better opportunities for 
young men. Chicago, he had heard, presented good open- 
ings in different directions. Alice approved of the plan. She 
wished to get away from her old associates, and start among 
strangers anew. One day Tom received a note from Hick- 
ley, asking him to call at the office on business of interest. 

Tom went that forenoon. Hickley asked him if a situ- 
ation on salary would be acceptable, and informed him that a 
very good place might, perhaps, be obtained in the passenger 
service of a certain great railroad. 

“ I don’t understand the business,” said Norwell. 

“ That isn’t necessary. The clerks in the office can run 
it till you get your hand in.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


V 


35 1 

“ Hickley, that road is controlled by Ophir. I don’t like 
to accept any favors from that man. I scarcely understand 
why this place is offered to me at all.” 

“ Mr. Ophir, of course, owns a very large interest in the 
road, and is a director, but then you have other acquaintances 
on the board. There’s Bulger, he’s an old friend of your 
father. Why shouldn’t you be offered the place?” 

“I don’t like the idea of taking a thing by way of charity, 
especially from Ophir.” 

“ Five thousand a year isn’t bad.” 

u The salary is all right, but the fact is, Hickley, I can’t 
accept. I’ve made other arrangements.” 

“ Oh, that alters the case, Norwell. Why didn’t you say 
so at first?” 

“ I don’t mean anything' definite. I am going West.” 

“ Tom Norwell, we have always been good friends, and 
in the habit of speaking plainly. Now, if you will allow me 
to say so, I think you are playing the fool.” 

“ You have a right to your own opinion, Hickley, and I 
have a right to reject this offer if I choose. I thank you for 
what you have done for me. I am sorry I cannot accept.” 

A few days after this conversation between Norwell and 
Hickley, Tom and Alice sat in their little parlor discussing 
their plans for the future. As they intended to leave the 
city soon it was thought best not to give up their apartments 
as contemplated until they were ready to start for Chicago. 
The brother and sister were apparently on good terms, 
though Alice could not fail to observe that the old spontane- 
ous affection of her brother was not the same. He was 
just as kind as formerly, and even more thoughtful of her. 
All his plans now seemed to be made for her benefit, and 
through them all she could discern that duty was before the 
tender, brotherly affection that once was hers. She was 
secretly pained at this, but there was now no means of recall- 
ing those hasty words. Time, she thought, might remove 
their sting. Herself she repented them with bitter tears, 
but any allusion to the matter now could only make things 
worse instead of better by bringing the whole painful scene 
fresh before him. 

Tom had been reading to her portions of a letter from 
Wilson. The Amazon had proved a bonanza. Wilson 
and Mack were both millionaires, or would be in a few more 
months. A branch of the great u Cobweb” line of rail- 


35 3 


AN IRON CROWN. 


road would soon oe completed to Ruby Buttes. Then mine 
owners would be able to work their mines at a vastly in- 
creased profit, the present cost of transportation by wagon 
being ruinously high. Alice had already received all this 
news direct from Wilson, but she was pleased to hear it 
again. Wilson had offered to loan Tom any amount of 
money he might need in his present exigencies. But Tom 
bravely concluded not to allow others to make easy the 
thorny path which he had chosen for himself. Concealing 
from Wilson the true state of his finances, he replied that he 
should work up from the bottom, and thus have the more 
satisfaction when he reached the top. 

During the evening Garmand dropped in. He had sud- 
denly determined to return to Europe, and had come to say 
good-bye. The good news from Wilson made Alice look 
unusually happy. From the first she had admired him. His 
superior intelligence and practical common sense combined 
with an unassuming manner, pleased her greatly. Now she 
had the best of reasons for thinking that he cared for her. 
To win the love of such a man, especially in his hour of suc- 
cess, seemed to her a woman’s greatest triumph. 

Garmand had greatly admired this practical Yankee girl. 
She was always entertaining, sometimes a trifle precise, and 
never silly. She corrected his mistakes so kindly and with 
such adroit indirectness, that it seemed many times as if she 
were seeking information instead of imparting it. She never 
quizzed him as some of the young ladies did slyly at times. 
He perceived that she was well educated, well bred, and, in 
short, a lady in every sense of the term. He thought she 
could manage an English home admirably. And yet he had 
never made love to her. in the first place, his mind was 
not made up that he cared for her. It is a momentous matter 
for an Englishman of the upper class to marry. He must 
please himself, he must please his relations, and above all, he 
must please a caste as scrupulous in social matters as were the 
Pharisees of old in religious. Had he been a marquis he 
might have ignored these caste considerations, but a man well 
down toward the substratum of the structure could not afford 
to make a mistake. Then, considering how hard it is for a 
man to please himself in the choice of a wife, the task seems 
well nigh hopeless when he is obliged to please pretty much 
all the world besides. Moreover, this girl had lost her money, 
which was not to be overlooked very easily. Could he make 


AN IRON CROWN. 


the sacrifice? He had received very little encouragement. 
After a considerable acquaintance, Miss Norwell seemed just 
the same as at the beginning, a little more communicative per- 
haps, because they had a wider range of common interest, 
but there was not the slightest approach toward a more 
friendly footing. He thought perhaps this was his own 
fault. 

Garmaftd revolved the situation in his mind while the 
trio sat chatting, just as he had revolved it several times 
before. Now he was going away and still there was noth- 
ing definitely understood. On the whole it was not best to 
be in a hurry; he could return to America at any time if he 
thought best. Norwell and Garmand started out for a little 
stroll where they could talk more freely. They dropped into 
the lobby of a hotel and sat smoking and talking over their 
financial reverses. This was a sore subject for both, though 
Garmand could afford his losses well enough. Finally Tom 
remarked : 

“ Garmand, I shouldn’t mind the money so much. Hang 
the money, let it go. I’ll get more sometime. But I have 
lost a sister too.” 

The Englishman was startled. This remark hit directly 
upon the subject in his own mind. Then Garmand at once 
suspected that his conduct had led Norwell to conclude 
that he expected to marry Alice. What else could it mean, 
this losing a sister when there were no other beaux visible? 
In his first alarm he did not know what reply to make, but 
at once thought it best to say nothing definite. 

w You may be mistaken, Mr. Norwell.” 

u Not at all. There is no chance for a mistake in a 
matter like this.” 

u Still, is it not possible that things may be different from 
what you think?” 

u I am not mistaken. We talked it over and there’s an end 
of it.” This matter had worried Tom a great deal secretly. 
Busy with his own self-accusing thoughts on the subject, it 
never occurred to him that Garmand might not understand 
at all what he alluded to. He assumed, because it filled his 
own thoughts, that it ought to be patent to everybody that 
these financial troubles had caused a rupture between brother 
and sister. He never thought of the fact that Garmand 
knew nothing about the loss of Alice’s legacy. On the other 
hand, Garmand had been so startled by this echo of his own 


23 


354 


AN IRON CROWN. 


reflections that it never occurred to him that Norwell could 
refer to anything else than what was in his friend’s mind. He 
was alarmed at Norwell’s remark that it had been talked over. 
The Englishman was instantly on the defensive. His con- 
science accused him of having been very friendly with Miss 
Norwell. He knew how scheming women entrapped wealthy 
men in his own country. Miss Snicker’s rather transparent 
efforts rose before him at once, and he reflected that perhaps 
this country was no better in that direction. He failed utterly 
to understand this country. Had he after ail been trapped, he 
asked himself, by one of these Yankees whose customs and 
peculiarities were a constant source of perplexity to his 
English understanding? 

“ Don’t you think — now really you cawn’t always tell — 
perhaps the other party meant nothing, you know.” 

u Some things when said and done can never be undone. 
This is such a case.” As Norwell said this he sank listlessly 
behind a cloud of smoke. 

Garmand was now thoroughly frightened. This allusion 
must be to legal proceedings for breach of promise, provided 
the gentleman in the case proved unwilling or tardy. He 
thought with terror of two or three little notes of invitation to 
the theater which he had written to Alice. He would give a 
hundred pounds apiece for them. If such a goodly sum could 
be made out of Pickwick’s celebrated epistle, which concealed 
love under a cunning guise of “chops and tomato sauce,” 
what might not be made out of his own terribly compro- 
mising conduct. It was lucky he had taken passage in the 
steamer which sailed to-morrow, and still more lucky he had 
not divulged his intentions of leaving for Europe. He would 
acquiesce for the present in Norwell’s views, and thus 
avoid arousing any suspicion of his intentions. He would 
temporize. 

“ If I were advising, Norwell, I really think I should let 
things take their course; perhaps — well — you cawn’t always 
tell how a thing is coming out.” 

“ Yes, that’s the only thing to be done. But my sister is 
very firm in her notions, and seldom says a thing hastily. 
That’s just where the trouble comes in.” 

Garmand was now completely mystified. Then perhaps 
the brother was not in the plot, or had not the heart to carry 
it out. It was this sharp Yankee woman who was bent on 
having an English husband, or a good round money equiva- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


355 


lent (which would have to be very large, considering what 
precious goods it balanced). Norwell had sat during his con- 
versation lazily puffing a cigar and looking out at the people 
passing. He had not noticed the face of his companion or he 
might have observed that there was a queer expression in it. 

At length Garmand rose and remarked that it was getting 
late, though it was still early. He shook Nor well’s hand for 
a longer period than usual, bidding him good-night a second 
and third time as he lingered; finally asking to be remem- 
bered to Miss Norwell, he took leave of his friend. He felt 
like a guilty culprit in stealing away from these people who 
had been so kind to him, without saying adieus or inviting 
them to share his hospitality, should they ever visit his own 
country. On Norwell’s return Alice asked: 

“ Where is Mr. Garmand? ” 

“ He went off in considerable of a hurry, I thought.” 

“I expected him back here to say good-night.” 

Next morning they were greatly surprised to see in the 
paper that Wyndleigh Garmand was a passenger on the 
Cunard steamer for Europe. 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

ALL THINGS ARE EASY BECAUSE ALL THINGS ARE UN- 
TRIED. SOME EXAMPLES OF YANKEE THRIFT. 

Arriving in Chicago, the Norwells found a respectable 
boarding house on the West side near Union Park. The price 
was reasonable, their rooms comfortable, and they congratu- 
lated themselves on being so soon settled. They had letters 
to a few good people, and, for this reason, felt that they were 
not entirely among strangers. The next important thing was 
to find something to do. Their money was nearly exhausted, 
and both must go to work, and that soon. Alice was un- 
usually fortunate in this respect. One of the persons to whom 
she had a letter of introduction happened to know of an op- 
portunity for a young lady to teach as assistant in a Young 
Ladies’ Day School. She immediately called on the Lady 
Principal of the school, and introduced Alice to her. Al- 
though she had no experience in teaching, Alice’s fine educa- 
tion and ladylike manners strongly impressed the Principal, 


35 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“Would she begin on trial? ” The salary was eighteen dol- 
lars per week, but that amount would not be paid to a begin- 
ner. It was finally arranged that Alice should take the place 
on trial at twelve dollars per week, with a promise of an ad- 
vance if satisfaction was rendered. As Alice’s board and 
lodging would cost only six dollars and a half per week 
including everything but washing, here was a small margin 
left to begin on. She considered herself in great luck, for 
she was to begin next Monday. 

Tom found things much harder. None of the business 
men to whom he had letters were able to do anything for 
him just then. They would make a memorandum of his 
case and let him know if anything turned up. He knew 
what that meant — in nine cases out of ten, nothing at all. 
Then he watched the papers and began the discouraging 
work of answering advertisements for “ help wanted.” He 
found it the most disheartening occupation he had ever en- 
gaged in. Day after day he tramped the streets to all sorts of 
places, looking for any kind of decent, paying work. He met 
with nothing but disappointment. He found that most of the 
persons advertising wanted youths or young men to do from 
ten to twelve hours’ work per day at from five to eight dollars 
per week. One or two firms wanted bookkeepers or sales- 
men at good salaries, but they had from one hundred to three 
hundred applicants, and wanted only experienced men. Nor- 
well read no end of “ Business Chances” in the columns of 
the daily papers. His experience of city life enabled him to 
guess what most of those were without investigation. One 
seductively-worded advertisement which appeared again and 
again, in substantially the same form, with two or three 
different addresses, read something as follows: 

W ANTED. — A partner in an established, genteel, 
profitable office business paying $200 per month 
clear profits. Can easily be made to pay double the 
amount. Satisfactory reasons for selling. Two hun- 
dred dollars cash takes a half interest. Call at Room 
40, 162 Hennepin street. 

As it is rather unusual for an established paying business 
to sell out at the price of two months’ profits, Tom thought 
he would investigate the business. Calling at Room 40,-162 
Hennepin street, he found a large, bare-looking office with 
three desks in it, two inside a low railing, which divided the 
office into two parts, and one outside. A sign painted on the 


AN IRON CROWN. 


357 


glass door bore the legend, “ Uriah Frisky & Co., Novelty 
Dealers.” A young lady sat at one of the desks inside the 
railing inserting circulars into envelopes. At the other desk 
sat a young man about thirty years of age, with shiny, short 
hair, and a hang-dog expression, apparently very busy, too 
busy in fact to look up, but engaged at nothing in particular so 
far as a casual observer could judge. Norwell was met at the 
railing by the young lady, who, taking the little slip he had 
cut from the morning paper, said: 

“Oh, that refers to the ‘Employment Bureau.’ Mr. 
Duemup, the manager, is not in just now,” and she glanced 
at the desk outside the railing, thereby indicating the place 
where Mr. Duemup presided when the pressure of his genteel 
profitable business required his presence in the office. 

“ When do you think he will be in? ” 

“About eleven o’clock; call at that hour.” At eleven 
o’clock sharp Tom Norwell was on hand, and so was Mr. 
Duemup. In Tact, that gentleman had been close at hand 
when the previous call was made, being in a little back room 
with the door ajar, so he could hear all that transpired in the 
outer office. By means of this very simple device Mr. 
Duemup could find it very convenient to be “out” when 
callers came whom he did not care to see. Like nearly all 
men who aspire to do the public a great service, Mr. Duemup 
found that there was a considerable portion of the said public 

who were inclined to look on his efforts in their behalf with 

✓ 

ingratitude, not to say suspicion. Some even nourished these 
suspicions till they became convictions, and threatened the 
“ Bureau,” in the person of Mr. Duemup, with chastisement, 
legal or personal, according to the turn of the aggrieved indi- 
vidual’s mind. Mr. Duemup, as a man of peace, had no notion 
of suffering either if he could avoid it. In consequence it was 
frequently judicious on the part of the “ Bureau” to be 
“not in.” 

Norwell advanced to the desk, and presented the little 
slip, saying : 

“I called with reference to this business chance.” 

“Oh, exactly! Take a seat,” replied Mr. Duemup. That 
gentleman (since modern usage has applied the much-abused 
term gentleman to all male human beings, except possibly 
scavengers, while all women without exception are ladies, the 
reader will excuse its use here) was of medium height, about 
twenty-five years of age, and dressed in a rather loud, striped 
business suit. He wore a checkered high collar, and a glass 


AN IRON CROWN. 


358 

pin in his tie. On his hand were several conspicuous rings, 
some plain, others set with stones. He had a hang-dog ex- 
pression like the other man in the office, except that Mr. 
Frisky, novelty dealer, was a good-natured, sneaking dog, 
who was content to sell useless gimcracks as the most won- 
derful inventions of the age, while Mr. Duemup was the 

vicious kind of brute that would throttle vou in the dark on 

•/ 

the slightest provocation. His red face was closely shaven, 
and his coarse lips were rolling the stub of an extinct cigar. 
His aquiline nose with a meaty “ nub” on the end of it, ex- 
cited the suspicion that he was a guileless Israelite. This, 
however, was a difficult point to decide. 

“ What is the nature of your business?” asked Norwell. 
“Well you see, I’m running an Employment Bureau. 
I’ve a mighty good thing.” 

“ Please explain a little more fully.” 

“ Well you see,” replied Mr. Duemup, whose eyes seemed 
to be constantly scanning a map of Cook county which hung 
on the opposite wall, “ in a city like Chicago there are always 
thousands of people out of employment, or who are dissatisfied 
with the work they have.” 

“ I see.” 

“ W ell, we advertise in the papers that we can furnish 
these people employment. We charge each applicant two 
dollars for registering his name. Ten applicants per day is 
one hundred and twenty dollars per week, or four hundred 
and eighty dollars per month. Advertising, which is the 
main expense, need not exceed seventy-five. That leaves 
four hundred dollars per month profits, so you see it is a 
pretty good thing.” 

“You have not reckoned office expenses, Mr. Duemup.” 
“V ery light. Why,” said Duemup confidentially, “ I pay 
only five dollars per month for desk room.” 

“ Cheap enough, I should say. But how about furnishing 
the applicants with situations?” 

Mr. Duemup did not seem very willing to elucidate this 
point, but replied : 

“Well, we send them to places. If they fail to make a 
contract we can not be responsible for that.” Mr. Duemup, 
indeed, had plenty of places to send people. But, unfortu- 
nately, these eager applicants, who had paid perhaps their last 
two dollars for the reference, found on reaching the place, 
that no help was wanted, and, moreover, that the people had 


AN IRON CROWN. 


359 


never heard of Duemup’s “ Bureau.” Now and then, by 
way of variety, he sent people to numbers which were va- 
cant lots. But this was not done through any humorous 
intent. Mr. Duemup was no humorist. It was an unfor- 
tunate contingency arising from the nature of his complicated 
business. It was all the fault of the city Directory which 
failed to tell what numbers were not built upon. 

a I should think it would be difficult to find places for all 
the applicants.” 

“ Well, you see we advertise very extensively, and people 
know where to send for good help.” Then, leaning over 
toward Tom, he added confidentially, “ That’s easily man- 
aged.” This was a feeler, to see whether the negotiator for 
an interest in this light, genteel business was troubled with a 
conscience. Norwell quickly took the cue, and replied: 

“ Oh, I see, I see. If you happen not to have places, you 
find ’em , eh ?” 

“ Exactly,” replied the “ Manager” with a laugh, pleased 
to discover that his man was all right on this important point. 
“ Then I should say you have a pretty soft thing.” 

“ Now you’re talking.” 

“ Police ever interfere?” Here Mr. Duemup leaned back 
slightly, threw his head back very softly, almost closed his 
eyes, and with a bland, insinuating wave of his right hand, 
said — nothing at all. 

“ Why don’t you keep it all yourself? ” 

“Well, you see the business is doubling right up on my 
hands till I can’t manage it myself. I need a good office man. 
There’s the advertising and other outside work to look after.” 
“ Two hundred dollars will take a half interest? ” 

“Yes, if taken immediately. I have another man coming 
to see me at one. He is anxious to come in, but, frankly, I 
would rather have you. I like your looks.” As Mr. 
Duemup’s eyes had never looked squarely in Norwell’s face, 
it was difficult to see where he had obtained the data 
necessary to such a favorable opinion. 

“ Isn’t there a good deal of competition in such an easy 
business? ” 

“None at all in our particular line.” Strictly speaking, 
the “Manager” told the truth here, as he was a partner in 
two or three similar “ snide ” employment agencies in the 
city. The taking in of a partner, where they could manage 
to rope in a greenhorn, was as much a part of the business as 
was the taking in of the public. 



AN IRON CROWN. 


46 What might I call your name?” 

“ Norwell.” 

“Now, Mr. Norwell, I consider this a rare opportunity, 
but you must decide at once, or the other man comes in. 
What do you say?” 

“I’ll consider the matter,” replied Tom, rising. 

“ But you haven’t any time to consider it. Such oppor- 
tunities are rare.” 

“ I shall not come in till I’ve thought the thing over well.” 

“All right,” replied the manager, who saw that Norwell 
was not to be caught in his little trap all at once. “ Call 
again when you’ve made up your mind. Our business talk 
is confidential, of course.” 

The next “business chance” which Norwell investigated 
proved to be of a dramatic nature. A gentleman was wanted 
to go on the road as treasurer of a “snap” dramatic company. 
He was also expected to contribute five hundred dollars 
toward the enterprise to lay the foundation of the treasury as 
it were. The company were preparing to torture the public 
with the fascinating new play entitled “ Boarding House 
Frolics, or Only a Masher’s Collar.” This fearfully and 
wonderfully constructed example of dramatic high art, as it 
now flourishes, was expected to draw like a free lunch. The 
profits of the season would surely reach twenty-five thousand 
dollars, of which the treasurer could have half by investing 
the paltry sum of five hundred dollars. Norwell respectfully 
declined. 

One morning Nor well’s eye fell on an advertisement worded 
something like this: 


As this really looked like legitimate business, Norwell 
addressed F 39, and in reply received a note, asking him to 
call at the office of “The Farm Home and Hopper,” a flam- 
boyant sheet whose spread-eagle sign extended across the 
whole front of a handsome business block. 

On entering the office, Norwell’s eyes first fell upon a 
young lady seated at a desk, busily opening the morning’s 
mail. In the rear was revealed a vista of several rooms, 
through the open doors of which might be seen some twenty 
young ladies engaged in addressing envelopes and wrappers. 


W ANTED. — An advertising solicitor by an agri- 
cultural paper having an immense circulation. 


w 


A rare chance to the right party. 


Address F 39, “Daily Forum.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


361 


The “ Hopper ” was evidently a big concern. Extending 
his note by way of introduction, he was referred at once to 
Mr. Powsley, the proprietor, who was then in the private 
office. 

Mr. Powsley was a good-looking, well-dressed young 
man of about twenty-eight, with a brusque but taking busi- 
ness air. He had none of the sneaking look that character- 
ized Mr. Frisky, and none of the lurking viciousness that 
strove to conceal itself in Duemup’s disagreeable mug. Mr. 
Powsley’s demeanor and conversation announced at once that 
he was an honest man, — an uncommonly honest one, if his 
own intimations from time to time were to be taken at par. 
If that indefinable a something ” in his face, which it is the 
peculiar province of the novelist to discover, contradicted 
Mr. Powsley’s bearing and speech, it was so much the worse 
for the u indefinable something.” A something in the counte- 
nance has no more right to traduce its owner covertly than 
that same owner has to traduce somebody else by means of a 
sneaking anonymous letter. 

Mr. Powsley went on to explain that his paper had a 
bona fide circulation of one hundred thousand copies weekly. 
This large circulation made it a very desirable medium for 
advertisers, and soliciting for his paper was sure to pay. 

“ I have never before heard of c The Farm Home and 
Hopper,’” remarked Norwell. “ Has it been established 
long?” 

“ I started the paper ten months ago.” 

u It has been very successful, I should say. By what 
means were you enabled to build up so large a circulation so 
soon ?” 

“ I originated a very popular system of giving prizes to 
each subscriber. I began by giving each subscriber a little 
more than the worth of his money, and trusted to luck to get 
it back in the future. Here is a list of the prizes,” and he 
handed Norwell a long printed slip containing the names of 
almost every article of popular use, from a span of horses or 
a piano to a wooden napkin ring. 

Norwell began to understand the methods of the “ Hop- 
per.” It was the old, swindling, gift-distribution scheme, a 
fraud hoary with antiquity, and which certainly is not bet- 
tered by being tacked to a cheap newspaper fraud. Mr. 
Powsley was very careful to explain that his scheme was no 
lotterv. There was no drawing. Gifts were assigned arbi- 


362 


AN IRON CROWN. 


trarily, and every subscriber might get one. (It was a fact, 
however, that most of them did not.) In his advertisements 
he described it as an honest , square plan. 

Another feature of Mr. Powsley’s scheme deserves spe- 
cial mention. He inserted in thousands of papers throughout 
the country an advertisement larger than one of the pages of 
this book, offering to send, for $5.39, a handsome watch, 
made of aluminum gold, — whatever that may be — worth 
twenty -five dollars . The only conditions attendant on par- 
ticipating in this unparalleled generosity of “ The Farm 
Home and Hopper,” were to send $5.39 in advance, and sign 
an agreement to pay one dollar more for a year’s subscription 
to the “ Hopper.” The u aluminum gold ” watch cost Mr. 
Powsley probably about one dollar and a half to two dollars 
wholesale. For time-keeping purposes it equaled a sun dial 
at night. The paper cost him about twenty cents per year 
on a liberal estimate. 

Mr. Powsley inserted his advertisements exclusively in 
papers read by farmers. He had a high appreciation of rural 
intelligence. His scheme was a great success. Letters poured 
in by the thousand daily. At one time the postoffice, it is 
said, actually found it necessary to employ a wagon to deliver 
the immense mail of the “Farm Home and Hopper.” This 
scoundrel was growing rich off those people whose opportu- 
nities of understanding the deceitful ways of dishonest schem- 
ers are few. Nor was he alone in this business. A host of 
imitators of the “ Hopper ” entered this rich field to prey on 
fools. Some of these papers were owned by Powsley 
himself. 

One paper actually advertised to loan mone}^ to its sub- 
scribers at four per cent, per annum, the loan to continue as 
long as the interest was paid, and the borrower remained a 
subscriber to the paper. This genius (who takes the laurels 
from Col. Sellers) figured out for his paper a circulation of 
two hundred and fifty thousand (to he obtained), and on this 
basis deduced a net profit of three hundred and forty-five thou- 
sand dollars per annum! This princely sum was all to be 
loaned to subscribers. 

I do not mention these swindles because they are a novelty. 
Doubtless, thousands of people understand them fully. But I 
wish to emphasize the astounding fact that very few seem to 
care anything about them. They go on and flourish, just as 
people go about legitimate business. If they are mentioned at 


AN IRON CROWN. 


363 

all it is in a careless way as if the public thought such rascal- 
ity was on the whole rather a smart proceeding. They are 
virtually abetted by the postoffice department of the United 
States, for without the mails such swindles as these, and that 
of Lemming & Miriam would be impossible. What is govern- 
ment instituted for, if not to protect the poor, the weak, the 
ignorant, as well as those who know how to take care of 
themselves? 

With regard to these swindles, which are a disgrace to our 
nation, the people are partially to blame. They should see 
that the laws are enforced against scoundrels of every degree 
and shade. The best men of the community go their way 
intent on getting rich themselves, and the entire community 
apathetically adopts their policy of non-interference. The 
best laws fall dead and futile if they are not actively supported 
by the people. Law never makes honor. The simple facts 
are, that the wonderful activity of the present day has made 
almost anything appear reasonable to the unthinking masses, 
no matter how absurd or impossible it may really be. Hence, 
knaves are constantly in waiting to take advantage of the 
credulity of the public. It is needless to add that Norwell did 
not work for the “ Hopper.” 

He went home that night tired and thoroughlv dis- 
couraged. Alice tried to cheer him up by telling him they 
could get along for awhile without great inconvenience, since 
she was sure of her twelve dollars per week. 

“ It is no use answering any more advertisements in the pa- 
pers,” he said. “ It seems to me as if those people are nearly 
all frauds.” 

“ Oh, certainly not all, Tom. There must be some respec- 
table people who advertise for help.” 

“In that case,” he replied moodily, “there are a hundred 
applicants for each place.” 

“You will find a place yet, Tom. There are always 
places for those who really want to work.” 

Norwell now regretted that he had so hastily rejected the 
offer of a good situation with that railroad. Though he told 
Hickley that he die} not care to be indebted to Ophir, which 
was true, hefielt at the time that Chetta Ingledee was most 
probably the cause of his receiving this opportune proffer of a 
place just as she had helped him out of prison. He was not 
ungrateful. It was only a matter of pride. He did not like 
to be indebted to this woman so deeply. He knew that she 


3 6 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


loved him, and that she was very persistent about it. This 
did not anger him. It might, had she been old and ugly. 
But what man was ever angry because a handsome, accom- 
plished young heiress preferred him? But he disliked that 
all the favors should come from her. He felt, like most men, 
that he should confer obligations on the woman. It was, 
however, only a matter of common politeness to write her 
thanking her for her interest in his behalf. Then he could 
not but think how much more suitable a wife this woman 
would have made than the simple-minded May Bryce. It 
was almost with regret that he thought of May, though he 
did not allow his easy-going nature to be greatly disturbed by 
his reflections. That night he sat down and wrote Chetta a 
letter which grew to considerable length before he had finished. 
He alluded to her interest in his behalf, remarked that he had 
only one friend capable of doing so much, hoped that some- 
time he could repay the debt, and finished by intimating that 
he should not forget old friends in New York. 

The next evening Norwell went down town to the theatre. 
There was a noted actor whom he wished to hear, and as 
Alice refused to go because they could not afford it, Tom 
went alone and sat in the gallery, where the admission was 
only twenty-five cents. Coming home, he decided to walk 
for the exercise, and unwisely went through Washington 
street tunnel under the river. On the West side, this brou ght 
him into a very disreputable locality infested by foot-pads, 
drunken men and prostitutes. Not caring to remain in such a 
dangerous vicinity very long at that hour of the night, he hur- 
ried along over the soggy wooden sidewalk soaked by spring 
rains and past dilapidated old pine houses. Two or three blocks 
west of the river, as he was passing a cross street, a man sud- 
denly sprang from a dark doorway and attempted to knock 
Norwell down. The latter turning his head quickly received 
only a glancing blow, which failed in its intended effect. In- 
stantly Nor well’s powerful clutch was on the throat of his as- 
sailant. Then a second man jumped from the same doorway 
and struck Norwell over the head with some kind of weapon 
which left an ugly welt, knocking him senseless. The thieves 
seized his pocketbook and ran away. 

In two or three minutes Norwell, who was not seriously 
injured, recovered his senses and rose to his feet just as two 
strangers came along. They inquired what the matter was as 
soon as they saw that Norwell was not drunk. On hearing 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 6 5 


his story, the men inquired of Nor well if he was not a stran- 
ger, as they knew that no person knowing the locality would 
venture there alone at night. They were employed by a Board 
of Trade Commission firm, and had been detained late on some 
extra office work. The three walked along together until 
Tom discovered that they lived near his own boarding house. 
He related his experiences in looking for a position. One of the 
men named Wylie, gave Tom his card, and promised to aid 
him if he could in any way. He added an invitation to call at 
the office next day. 

Nor well went and found a surprise in store for him. Wylie 
had mentioned his case to the firm, who happened to want an- 
other man in the office. The head of the firm, who was an 
unusually well-informed business man, was pleased with Nor- 
well at once. He listened to the latter’s account of his want 
of success in obtaining employment, and he was touched 
deeply when Norwell related briefly the misfortunes of his 
family. In consequence Norwell was employed at once on a 
salary of twenty dollars per week. Once this sum would not 
have paid his bills for gloves and flowers. Now he was very 
glad to have it. Once more he was independent and ready 
to begin the laborious operation of climbing the ladder from 
the very bottom. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 

MIND-FARMING AND HUSBAND-PAINTING. 

Miss Bryce had returned to her Illinois home. For some 
days she entertained her father and mother continually by 
relating her experiences while visiting in New York. Life 
in the metropolis and life in her own country home repre- 
sented almost the utmost extremes of the American social 
fabric. Mr. and Mrs. Bryce were well informed for people 
in their station, concerning the usages of urban life, and were 
greatly interested in May’s recitals of the doings and sayings 
of polite society. They liked to listen, because their daugh- 
ter’s habit of intelligent observation had stored her mind with 
many ideas and reflections well worth knowing. They 
prided themselves that their child u was no fool,” as plain 


3 66 


AN IRON CROWN. 


country people often put a case of more than ordinary intelli- 
gence. Then they had besides the old interest, — as old as 
the day when the first child was born into the world, — that 
of being interested in whatever interested the child. 

On reaching home, May had written promptly to her 
lover, and soon received a reply. May had never kept any 
important secrets from her parents. She would have felt a 
miserable guiltiness had she attempted a clandestine love 
affair. The secret would surely have betrayed itself, for she 
was incapable of dissimulation. Like a dutiful daughter she 
showed Tom’s letter to her mother, and asked if there was 
any reason why she should not continue such a correspond- 
ence. She did not expect a refusal, for her parents never 
refused her anything. But she dreaded lest her mother might 
ask how far matters had already gone. Then she must 
either be guilty of deception or break her promise to her 
lover, a promise of which she did not realize the full force 
when she made it. She could do neither. She could only 
lay herself liable to misconstruction by declining to answer 
until she obtained Tom’s consent to speak. But Mrs. Bryce 
asked no such question. She had an implicit confidence in 
her daughter’s discretion and sense of filial duty. It was safe 
to leave everything to her for the present. The mother did 
privately express some doubts as to the propriety of encour- 
aging an intimacy between Norwell and their daughter. 
Mrs. Bryce had heard it said that city men often “ thought 
nothing of having two or three girls at once.” Mr. Bryce 
had no such misgivings. He liked Norwell, and was sure 
that he was a gentleman. He had never seen a young man 
he would rather have for a son-in-law, provided he really 
meant anything more than a friendly correspondence. Mrs. 
Bryce’s doubts were silenced, and the matter was discussed 
no more. 

After a time May experienced that sense of loneliness and 
restless discontent which usually comes to a young person 
who, having been for a season transferred from a life of quiet 
monotony to a scene of greater activity, returns again to the 
old ways. She did not like city life. The midnight glare of 
gaslight, the babble of light conversation, and the rustle of 
silken trains, did not comport with her ideas of refined enjoy- 
ment. Yet she was not satisfied with the old farm life. She 
thought there must be an ideal existence somewhere between 
these two extremes. Her thoughts frequently wandered back 


AN IRON CROWN. 


367 




to some of the incidents of her visit in New York. She 
thought of Chetta Ingledee often, in spite of her attempts to 
dismiss that young lady from her mind. She recurred to that 
scene at Brownell’s, when Tom led Chetta out for the Vir- 
ginia reel. Again and again she pictured the expression on 
Chetta’ s face, and it always seemed to her one of triumph. 
The thought was unpleasant, and yet it persisted in coming 
back frequently. Then she thought of Chetta as a possible 
rival, and her heart sank. She, with her country breeding, 
could not hope to win in a contest with that accomplished 
young lady, who was thoroughly schooled in all those refined 
arts of attracting men, which are so effectively employed by 
those women who happen to be beautiful and artful at 
the same time. What if Chetta Ingledee deliberately set 
herself to take away May’s gallant lover? The fear of such 
a result made her heart sick. But she fortified her spirits 
with the consolation that Tom Norwell, whatever other men 
might be, could never prove untrue. No, her demi-god, the 
soul of manly honor, could never be guilty of deception. 

Enjoined by her lover to keep their tender secret from the 
world, and with no congenial friends of her own age and sex, 
May’s position was not a happy one. She could not even lay 
her doubts and fears before her mother, — that friend whose 
love never changed, concerning whose affection and sympathy 
doubt was impossible. She could not even make a confidant 
of Alice. She wondered why her lover was so sensitive on 
this one point. He would not insist if he only knew the 
misery it caused her. But then he must be right in this mat- 
ter, he must know better than she. She would bravely 
struggle against these doubts until time removed them. She 
scarcely appeared to have the old-time elasticity of manner. 
Mrs. Bryce thought that perhaps late hours and the excite- 
ment to which May was unaccustomed had slightly affected 
her health during her visit. The color on her cheek 
looked too brilliant for perfect health. It seemed rather a 
hectic glow. Her eyes, which were rather large and always 
bright, had assumed a pearly appearance of the cornea. She 
occasionally felt at times too, a slight shortness of breath 
which, however, caused her no alarm. Mrs. Bryce, thinking 
that sleep was all her daughter needed, was careful to see 
that everybody in the house was in bed by nine o’clock. 

May was delighted to hear that the Norwells were about 
to move to Chicago. As soon as thev were located there 

O j 


I 


363 


AN IRON CROWN. 


(she drove her pony and buggy to the station every day for 
letters at this particular time) she at once wrote Alice a long 
letter. On the whole it was a cheerful epistle, and a very 
friendly one. The Bryces all joined in an invitation to the 
Norwells to visit them in their country home. The distance 
and the running of trains were such that people from the city 
could run out at any time on Saturday afternoon and return 
Monday. 

Things were going smoothly with the Norwells. They 
had a pleasant boarding place, and had made some agreeable 
acquaintances. Among other intimate friends were Mr. and 
Mrs. Wylie. The Wylies had a pleasant little home of their 
own, and as the men worked in the same office, they were all 
on a very friendly footing. Alice liked her work, and was 
pleased to see that steady occupation had a beneficial effect 
on her brother, who was naturally inclined, as she realized 
more and more, to indulge visionary schemes. They were 
paying their way as they went, and had mutually agreed to 
lay by a small fixed sum from their not very liberal salaries 
for a wet day. With scrupulous fidelity Alice placed her 
share of the fund in a little box kept for the purpose. Each 
put the money in a separate envelope. After the lapse of a 
few weeks Alice was greatly surprised to find Tom’s envel- 
ope empty. Her first thought was that a sneak thief had 
stolen the money. Then she knew that was impossible, for 
he would have taken hers at the same time. She at once had 
her suspicions aroused as to what became of it. That evening 
she remarked to her brother: 

“ Tom, the money is missing from your envelope. Did 
you remove it?” 

“ Yes, I took it out,” he answered rather uneasily. “ Did 
you want some money?” 

“No, but I thought we had agreed to save together.” 

“ So we did, and so we shall; but the fact is, Alice, I saw 
a chance to make a good investment.” 

“Oh, Tom!” she exclaimed with anguish in tone and look, 
“have you been speculating again?” He was touched at the 
feeling she exhibited. He had been the means of bringing 
this sister to poverty, and, though it was hard for his sensitive 
nature to forget her hasty words when she had by implica- 
tion called him a thief, he was not capable of cruelty, and he 
owed her very much indeed. 

“ Why, Alice, don’t take it to heart like that,” he said 


AN IKON CROWN. 


3 6 S> 


kindly. 44 It was only twenty-five dollars I had saved. I 
took it out and bought wheat. I cleared one hundred dollars, 
and I’ll put fifty into the envelope if you say so.” 

44 Dear brother, it is not the money I care for, it is the 
principle. Don’t be angry with me now, Tom, but I must 
say what I feel. Please promise me not to speculate any 
more.” 

The mania for gambling had taken possession of him. 
He could not give it up. He said, after a pause: 

44 Alice, I hardly think you ought to ask that of me. 
Others have made money that way. I may see a golden 
opportunity.” 

44 Think of what it has already done for us. Think of 
father,” and her voice trembled at this reference to that sad- 
dest of all events in their lives. 44 Think of yourself a few 
months ago. Please promise, for my sake.” 

44 Sister, I will promise you not to make any more deals 
at present.” 

44 Say never, Tom.” 

“No, Alice,” he replied firmly, 44 1 can not bind myself for- 
ever by rash promises which I may regret sometime. I 
promise for the present.” That was all she could get him to 
say, and with a foreboding that sometime his weakness would 
lead him to utter ruin, she was obliged to be satisfied. 

The visit to the Brvces was made in due time. It was in 
early spring when the tiny green spears of grass were just 
beginning to pierce the loose, black prairie soil. Buds were 
swelling on the willow trees, and the venturesome maple was 
pushing out its red buds at imminent peril of frost, suspend- 
ing the work in alarm with each chilly north wind. An 
Illinois spring is a very disappointing affair, with a great deal 
of promise, and very small performance. Like a shy lover 
it dallies with expectant nature, till bolder summer, warm 
with desire, is led a whiling bride to bowers sweet with the 
perfume of flowers and growing corn. Alice thought the 
wide, rolling prairies very beautiful. Their novelty was 
pleasing to her eyes, which had always been accustomed to 
long rows of stone and brick, or the pent up hills of the 
Hudson. She was charmed with the clean country, the pure 
invigorating air, and the bright April sunshine which fell in 
a universal flood, instead of struggling in a meager stream 
between lofty buildings. 

It so happened that a neighbor of Mr. Bryce’s who 


24 


37 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


owned a great deal of land, had a quarter section to rent. 
The former tenant had lost his wife suddenly, and concluded 
to give up the place. Any one beginning at once would be 
in time to get all the spring crops, chiefly corn, potatoes and 
oats, into the ground in season. Mr. Bryce, who had learned 
from Norwell nearly all about his affairs, advised him to take 
this farm and wo&k it one season. The idea was a new one 
to Norwell. He was afraid he knew too little about farming. 

<7 

But Mr. Bryce offered to tell him just when to do everything, 
and inform him as to the best methods. He had taken a lik- 
ing to Norwell and was anxious to have him succeed. He 
thought a farm judiciously handled better than twenty dollars 
a week in the city with heavy living expenses. Alice was 
ready to favor the idea because it might wean Tom from his 
dangerous inclination to risk money in speculation, whereas 
his present business threw him directly into the midst of it. 
Norwell concluded to remain over another day to look at the 
farm, and telegraphed the firm that he should be detained 
longer than he expected. 

May was delighted to have Alice Norwell with her 
another day. In truth, she had always been secretly in awe 
of that young lady’s superior knowledge of the world, and 
matter of fact way of looking at everything. She hoped to 
establish thoroughly cordial relations with her future sister- 
in-law, and now began to believe that the work was effectu- 
ally accomplished. Alice treated her with a frank friendliness 
that left no doubt of the feelings which prompted such ac- 
tions. The only question in May’s mind was what would 
she say if she knew of the secret engagement! May had 
felt that this secrecy had been all wrong from the beginning, 
and as things stood now 7 it grew daily more impolitic if not to 
say, improper. But she left everything to Tom as he had re- 
quested, hoping all would be well in the end. 

That Sunday afternoon the girls sat in May’s cosy room 
up stairs, engaged in confidential chat. The men were at the 
barn, looking at the horses and cattle. Mrs. Bryce was in the 
kitchen with apron on and sleeves rolled up, busy cleaning up 
the dinner dishes. The young ladies were discussing the sub- 
ject of husbands as young ladies will. Various theories were 
advanced concerning the nature of the animal in question. 
His desirable points were dwelt upon, and the possibility ( ! ) 
that he might possess undesirable traits alluded to as a factor 
to be considered. Then there was considerable husband- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


37 1 


painting done. The journalist constructs at times something 
which he calls a pen-picture of some noted personage. These 
maidenly fancies might be called mind-pictures of future 
partnership possibilities. Alas, the garrets of maiden im- 
magination are full of portraits of manly hero-husbands 
whose personality has never yet been projected into this prosy, 
selfish world. The real husband, when once securely in the 
matrimonial noose where he can not easily evade close in- 
spection, often proves but a sorry hack, compared with the 
knightly ideal which he resembles about as much as a mule 
resembles the spirited Arabian courser. I am aware that this 
comparison is open to criticism, but it is respectfully sub- 
mitted to the highest authority on the subject — wives. Wife- 
painting is a pastime that produces like unsatisfactory results. 
Miles and miles of youthful art galleries are filled with glow- 
ing ideals, half fairy, half angel, which bear small resem- 
blance to life’s great gallery of womanhood, some in calico, 
some in satin, some “ homely as a brush fence,” others beauti- 
ful — all only women. Not an angel among them, young 
man. 

May Bryce drew an outline, which in physical proportions 
and personal peculiarities, strikingly resembled Tom Norwell. 
Whether this was intentional, or whether it was an unconscious 
expression of her own frequent meditations, was not apparent. 
At any rate, if Alice Norwell recognized the portrait of her 
brother, she said nothing to indicate the fact. For her part, 
she replied, that while it was well for every one to have an 
ideal of excellence for the opposite sex, it was foolish to ap- 
propriate that ideal to one’s self. No individual could attain 
in all things to the excellence of the type, just as the sculptor 
requires many different models before he can construct the 
ideal human figure. 

Before the Norwells returned it was decided that Tom 
should take the farm and the farm implements all ready to go 
to work. He bought also a team of horses, which the owner 
was willing to sell at a great sacrifice, as he was anxious to go 
to Kansas. Norwell still had a few hundreds due him in 
New York from good parties, which made it safe for him to 
assume these obligations. Mr. Bryce went his security and 
the whole thing was arranged. 

Two weeks intervened before they were to move to the 
farm. During this period the Norwells entertained their 
friends with a relation of their expectations, Tom had 


37 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


figured out so many bushels of corn to be raised at so much 
per bushel, so many bushels of oats, so many bushels of po- 
tatoes, so many tons of hay, and so on through the list. He 
figured out about one thousand dollars profit from one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in one season. 

Wylie was not so sanguine. He had been brought up on a 
farm and knew about what could be done and what could not. 
He would have advised Tom not to try it at all had he been 
consulted before the lease was signed. 

Alice was very sanguine also. She had given up her 
position in the school willingly, although the Principal had 
offered to raise her salary at once to twenty dollars per week 
after only one month’s experience. She hoped to be able to 
make something on the farm, and aid her brother too; she 
did not expect to make so much as twenty dollars per week of 
course, but she would undertake this for his sake. She was 
willing to make almost any sacrifice for him. Then she 
thought country life would be an agreeable change. She felt 
sure she would like it. She had read in the agricultural 
columns of papers what wonderful thinga Dame Nature 
would do on a farm if only tickled properly, things by the 
way, seldom done, except in the editor’s sanctum. Each cow 
would produce so much butter; each hen lay an egg daily (in- 
cluding Sunday, for hens know nothing of the second com- 
mandment); there would be so many spring chickens to sell. 
Now Alice was by no means ignorant of the old saw which 
links arithmetical operations with incipient poultry. She 
knew that chickens always had been raised, and always would 
be. A hen could brood so many, and allowing for losses, it 
was easy to tell about how many would be left. 

“ Mrs. Wylie,” Alice remarked one day, “ we are going 
to have strawberries, too, and I shall send you some.” 

“ Oh, that will be so nice.” Mrs. Wylie, like Alice, had a 
rather vague notion of the various stages in the career of the 
strawberry before it is placed on the table a tempting mass of 
lusciousness ready to be sacrificed in the interests of the cream 
and sugar trades. Both of them overlooked the fact that the 
strawberry plant in the natural course of events precedes the 
strawberry itself. 

“Then we shall have abundance of peas and all sorts of 
garden stuff. Oh, you must come and see us.” 

“ Thank you, Miss Norwell, we will. It would be so 
nice, if we can only get away. I should like country fare. 


AN IRON CROWN. 373 

I’m tired to death of having things that have been carted 
around till they are stale.” 

“And then we shall have melons, too. But I’m afraid 
we can’t have ice. Bryces hang their melons in the well to 
cool.” 

“ And then it will be very nice to go right to the trees and 
pick your cherries and apples fresh. One need use only the 
best. I shall coax Mr. Wylie to go, if I can.” 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 

LIFE ON THE PRAIRIES. RAISING GARDEN “ SASS.” — A 

SPELL OF WEATHER, AND A BOTTOMLESS CORNFIELD. 

Moving day came, and the Norwells were duly installed 
in their new home. The house, which was about a mile 
from Bryce’s, was a squatty, barn-like structure, with a low 
kitchen at one side, the whole resembling an enormous dry 
goods box with a smaller one set against it. The house had 
once been painted a sort of brown, but the paint was nearly 
all washed off, except in streaks, where some quality of the 
lumber had retained it. Just now a dingy, old- wood color 
predominated. The barn did not look greatly unlike the 
house. The board fence around the yard had gone to rack 
badly, and the former tenant had milked the cows in the 
door-yard, because it was “ handy.” A rickety old chain- 
pump stood about two rods from the kitchen door. This ma- 
chine required such a prodigious amount of turning before 
any water appeared that one was inclined to believe the whole 
thing a base fraud, like those bands on a boy’s garments 
which represent fictitious pockets, to the owner’s constant 
annoyance and humiliation. As the party most interested, 
the boy realizes that the nature of his possessions require 
ample pocket room, in fact, that his garments should be pret- 
ty much all pockets. 

A humanitarian object in the shape of a martin box, 
stuck lop-sided on a tall pole, leaned dangerously toward the 
kitchen. On the other side stood another tall pole, on which 
hung a clumsy bell to call the men to dinner. This pole was 
so shaky, and wobbled so much when the bell was rung, that 


374 


AN IRON CROWN* 


its use always put Alice into a tremor of apprehension. Jim 
Cain, the hired man, however, pronounced it safe. The 
landscape between the road and the house was ornamented 
by a half-dead pine tree, one wholly dead, and a few shaggy 
withered rose bushes. Two small, flowering shrubs were 
striving to get a start in the world by shielding their spind- 
ling forms within old flour barrels. The former tenant, 
remarked rather ambiguously of these that his wife had set 
’em over ’em to save ’em. 

The inside of the house was not much more inviting than 
the outside. It was awkwardly arranged, so that the women 
had to walk half-way round the kitchen to get to the wood- 
shed. The kitchen floor was u dished” into heights and hol- 
lows, owing to the leaking of the roof, which warped the 
boards. Upstairs Alice was obliged to change the hired 
man’s bed around from place to place when it rained hard, 
in order to preserve it from irrigation. When the rain came 
up in the night the hired man was expected to shift for him- 
self. The bad condition of the premises might be partially 
explained by the fact that the house had never been occupied 
by the owner, in other words, it was a u tenant house.” 
Nevertheless, it was neither better nor worse than many 
houses occupied by owners themselves. 

Alice thought the first thing to be done was to repair the 
yard fence, so as to keep the cattle away from the house. 
Tom agreed, and this was done at once. There was a very 
poor fence around the garden. That was repaired next, and 
a gate hung, so that it was possible to enter the inclosure. 
The former tenant had allowed the garden gate to fall from 
its hinges. It was then placed crosswise in the opening and 
propped in place by a rail set obliquely against it. This latch 
ten feet long was very effective, but not very convenient, as 
the women folks were obliged to lift it away every time they 
entered the garden, or climb over at great risk to skirt and 
limb. The previous tenant u reckoned things ort to be slicked 
up a little, an’ he had ’lowed to do it, but he ’lowed the need- 
cessities of the crops was of more importance than the gyar- 
den. It took him moseyin’ lively to git the corn crop tended 
to.” He and his wife were from a border Southern State, 
and possessed that peculiar dilatoriness, which is by no means 
laziness, and is brim full of good-natured intentions. It al- 
ways “ ’lows to git round to a thing,” but never gets 
there. 


AN IRON" CROWN. 375 

“ Tom, I haven’t seen any strawberry bed. Bryce’s will 
bloom in a few days.” 

“ Alice, I think our strawberry bed has gone on a vaca- 
tion.” These remarks took place while they were discussing 
the possibilities of the situation a day or two after their 
arrival. 

“ I think it must have done so, but we must have another 
at once, if we expect berries this season.” 

“ Great Jupiter, do you think you can set out the plants 
and have strawberries, too, in a month?” 

“ The books say they will bear the first year.” 

“ Books be hanged! I tell you it can’t be done.” So the 
Norwells decided that they would quietly lop off one luxury, 
a dainty one, from the list. As mind-gardening gave place 
to ground-gardening, other dainty articles of diet disappeared 
one by one under the stern logic of hard facts. 

Tom and the hired hand were busy plowing for corn, 
while Alice was industriously cleaning house and doing some 
landscape gardening in the front yard. She had cleaned the 
old house from top to bottom, laid a plain carpet in the best 
room, nailed pieces of tin carefully over rat holes, and pasted 
illustrated papers neatly over some breaks in the kitchen 
plastering. Her limbs and back ached fit to crack at this 
hard labor, to which she was unaccustomed. But Tom had 
been obliged to hire a hand, and they were not able to hire a 
girl, too. Then she learned that this was the customary 
work of farmers’ wives and daughters. She could do what 
others did. She knew that her brother sorely needed help, 
and she determined to help him while she could. That 
might not be long. In a recent letter Arthur Wilson had 
asked her to be his wife, and she had consented. She had 
at first told Tom, and it made him happy to know that his 
sister would be placed above want, whether their farming 
venture paid or not. For the present she was glad to make 
herself as useful as possible, even at the drudgery of a 
woman’s life on a farm. 

One Saturday afternoon Tom and the hired hand spaded 
up the garden, broke the clods, leveled the ground, and laid 
off beds for onions, lettuce, beets, and peas. All 'the next 
week the weather was delightful, and Alice was busy plant- 
ing her garden. It was with great pride that she reported 
progress to the men folks every evening. 

One thing was yet lacking which must be attended to 


37 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


soon. They had no chickens. They must have some at 
once, so they could have eggs to eat and raise some chickens. 
Tom had made arrangements to get the chickens from a 
neighbor. On the same Saturday afternoon on which Alice 
completed her garden, he drove over for the fowls, and 
brought back ten hue hens and a rooster. The chickens 
were put to roost in a little hen house back of the barn, and, 
very tired, the family retired to rest. They had preaching 
only every other Sunday in their Presbyterian church, at 
Prairie Grande. As there was no service next day, they con- 
cluded to lie abed late, city fashion, and take a good night’s 
rest. About eight o’clock they rose, and the men went out 
to feed the horses and milk the cows, while Alice got 
breakfast. 

After a while Tom came in with a half serious, half quiz- 
zical expression on his face. 

44 Alice, your garden is a great success. Most of the stuff 
is up already.” 

44 Why, that can’t be. The onions that I planted Monday 
were peeping yesterday, but the peas hadn’t sprouted. I dug 
some up to see.” 

44 They’re up now any way.” 

“You’re fooling.” 

44 Look for yourself.” 

44 Peas must sprout very quick when they get started, I 
think.” Alice went to the garden to look at this miracle of 
vegetation. The things -were indeed up. The chickens had 
evidently been up, too. The garden was scratched into a wild 
chaos of confusion from one end to the other. The neat bor- 
ders of the beds were obliterated almost completely. 

Onions lay here and there with their shining coats con- 
spicuous in the morning sun or half buried in the loose soil. 
Swollen, dropsical peas dotted the ground where the long pea 
rows had been. The smaller^dark-colored seeds modestly hid 
themselves as if ashamed to confess the ignominious treatment 
to which they had been subjected. 

Alice gazed at the ruin for some minutes in dire dismay. 
Then she returned to the kitchen only to witness another 
domestic disaster on a smaller scale. At the door she was 
greeted by the odor of 44 something burning.” She rushed 
into the kitchen to find smoke pouring from the stove like an 
incipient volcano. She had just put in two or three pieces of 
dry board before going out, and now her batch of breakfast 


AN IRON CROWN. 


377 * 

biscuits were burned to a cinder. This was more than the 
most equable temper could be expected to endure with un- 
ruffled composure. 

u It serves you right, Tom,” said Alice, looking ruefully at 
the smoking biscuits. “ You had no business to send me on a 
fool’s errand. There’s only soggy bread, and you may quit 
when you have eaten that.” 

Somehow Alice found it a difficult matter to make the 
bread supply last as it should. She had never known men to 
have such voracious appetites. Her brother ate twice as much 
as he had ever done before, and as for Jim Cain, well, his ap- 
petite was to her a constant source of wonder. It was incom- 
prehensible to her how any human being could stow away 
such enormous quantities of bread and butter, ham, mashed 
potatoes and coffee. Their bill of fare had little variety, but 
he certainly made up in quantity. However, Jim was a first- 
class hand and a good fellow, so he was made welcome to all 
he wanted, notwithstanding the danger of exhausting the 
larder. Breakfast, which consisted of bread that had failed to 
rise, fried bacon and coffee, was dispatched in silence. That 
afternoon they went over to Bryce’s, and Alice sought advice 
and consolation from Mrs. Bryce and May. The latter offered 
to go and stay a week with Alice, and assist her to get started 
in housekeeping. But Alice was independent, and while 
profiting by advice, was determined to succeed by her own 
efforts. 

On the next Monday morning they were to begin plant- 
ing corn, but when morning came it was raining hard. The 
weather had been fine, and the ground in splendid condition. 
Now nothing could be done that day or the next, as it was too 
wet. For want of a better job the men penned the chickens 
in the hen-house to save the garden from future devastation. 
Arrangements were made for feeding and watering the fowls. 
Next morning it was still raining, and the men went to town 
after attending to some chores in the barn. 

In the routine of a farmer’s wife there is no interval be- 
tween the morning work and the beginning of preparations 
for dinner. Alice sat down for a moment to think. She 
looked out at the dreary, monotonous stretch of rain-soaked 
country over which the dark clouds hung apparently little 
higher than a tall tree. The water stood in puddles in the 
yard and splashed in a long waving line from the eaves of the 
barn. Its monotonous drip was everywhere. Then that re- 


37 s 


AN IRON CROWN. 


minded her that perhaps Jim’s bed up stairs was not in the 
best place to avoid the dripping water. She took another 
pan and went up stairs. Nearly all the spare tinware and 
vessels about the house were already placed under the leaks 
to save the best room below. Up stairs she looked out 
again over the dull landscape dotted here and there in the 
distance by the dim outlines of farm-buildings. She felt de- 
pressed and lonesome. She wondered how she could ever 
have seen anything beautiful in this dull country, or how 
farmers found life endurable at all. She had no time to read. 
The Bryces, Deacon Brown’s folks and one or two other 
families were their only really intelligent neighbors. They 
had a few books, a good newspaper and a popular magazine, 
but she never had time to do more than glance at the illustra- 
tions in the latter. When she quit work at night she was 
actually too tired to read. Perhaps this was partly because she 
did not understand her work sufficiently to have it well in 
hand, but if the present state of affairs were to continue al- 
ways she thought she would just as soon not live at all. And 
yet her position was no worse than that of thousands of farm- 
ers’ wives and their husbands, too, who toil through life in 
this way, unable in some cases, unwilling in many cases, to 
attempt anything better. As a result there is a constant 
stream of intelligent country people seeking the city where 
they prefer to subsist on a pittance rather than go back to the 
farm. And yet country life to those who know how to im- 
prove its advantages furnishes the greatest amount of real 
happiness to be found anywhere. The domestic virtues take 
deeper root there. The farm is the nursery of great men. 

The wet weather continued the third day. There was the 
same monotonous dripping from the eaves, as the rain settled 
into a persistent downpour. The prairies were soaked like a 
sponge, and every tread of the foot caused a wheezy sqush as 
the displaced water spirted out. The “sloughs” became 
creeks of running water and overflowed the level ground near 
them. Norwell, whose animal spirits were inclined to teeter 
up and down from a dangerous height of buoyancy to an op- 
posite depth of despondency, since his reverses, became ex- 
ceedingly blue. Planting for some time would be out of the 
question; meantime May was passing rapidly, and it would 
soon be late for corn planting. He tried to read, but quit 
frequently to scan the dull, slow-moving clouds. He talked 
with Jim on the prospects for late corn making a crop. It 


AN IRON CROWN. ^ 


379 


was a new experience and a very disagreeable one to him, to 
be engaged in a business where he could only sit and wait. 
Disappointment was telling on his naturally equable temper. 
He grew moody, and said cross things to Alice. The wet 
spell continued for two weeks, raining every day. At times 
as the drizzling, persistent rain threatened to ruin all prospects 
of a crop, Norwell got into a condition almost bordering on 
desperation. He imagined the very worst things possible. 
Suppose they were unable to make any crop at all! There 
was nothing apparently but starvation before them. It was 
in vain that Jim offered consolation in the philosophical re- 
mark that “ it couldn’t rain always.” 

Norwell went over to Bryce’s frequently, where his com- 
ing always made May very happy, and his going left her mis- 
erable. She was happy to have him near, and miserable be- 
cause she could not help noticing that he was not the light- 
hearted young man she had once seen him. She attributed 
this to his financial reverses, and tried to console him with ar- 
guments that riches were not necessary to true happiness. 
But as his views in this respect were so directly opposed to 
her own, her efforts were a signal failure. Then she em- 
ployed those little arts which are so natural to a refined, in- 
teresting young woman, but Tom never seemed quite at ease. 
He was as kind as ever, and observing of all those social 
courtesies which his early training had made second nature to 
him, but there was something lacking. Finally the dreadful 
thought occurred to her that possibly he no longer cared for 
her. He had always told her they could not marry till he 
made money. Now, perhaps, he might want to be released, 
for riches seemed farther off than ever. Meantime, she was 
concealing their engagement from her father and mother. 
She felt guilty, but her timid modesty made it impossible to 
speak to him again on the subject of marriage till he was 
ready to speak first. 

Mrs. Bryce’s experienced eye soon discovered that there 
was something more between the young people than ap- 
peared on the surface. She hinted as much to her husband, 
but his answer was: 

u Mary, you’re always scart about something. May is a 
good girl and a sensible one. Tom Norwell is a gentleman. 
Maybe they are only good friends. Just let ’em alone 
awhile.” 

“ I don’t know about letting them alone. Thev have 


3 So 


AN IRON CROWN. 


been together a good deal in New York and ought to know 
their minds by this time. I’ve always heard it said that a 
town young man is never satisfied unless he has two or 
three girls.” 

“ Shucks, Mary, that’s all nonsense. Tom Norwell isn’t 
that sort of a man, I’m satisfied. If you want to, you might 
drop the child a hint not to be too forward with him.” 

“Jacob, that is nonsense too. You know our child never 
was forward.” 

“ Then just say nothing for awhile.” 

In spite of this confidence Mrs. Bryce did give May a hint 
which was received with respectful silence, no word of reply 
being ventured. 

During these wet-day visits, Mr. Bryce would, by his hearty 
good nature, the result of perfect health, prosperity and a well- 
balanced mind, talk Norwell into a more cheerful mood. The 
old farmer laughed at Tom’s fears. 

“Never mind Norwell, we’ll get our corn in all right yet. 
It is never too late while the month of May lasts. It is a 
little wetter than common, but when you’ve farmed- it fifty 
years you will get used to all sorts o’ ups and downs.” 

The rain ended. The hand of adversity must take its 
turn at the bottom on the dial of events. A clear sky and 
a warm sun followed the wet weather. The water disap- 
peared as if by magic. The sloughs became silver threads as 
they wound through the green springing grass that bent 
gracefully before the current. The pools sank away with re- 
markable rapidity. The trees sprang into full leaf under the 
hot sun almost as if nature had touched an electric button and 
set her machinery in full operation in an instant. The birds 
sang, twittered and builded everywhere. The wild flowers 
in the prairies, on such small patches as had never been dis- 
turbed by the plow, began to show their bright colors that 
contrasted so well with the exquisite green of the grass. 
Nature, had she tried, could scarcely have produced a greater 
contrast than that presented between the cold, drizzling, 
leaden landscape of a few days before, and this marvelous 
scene of bursting life and beauty. Jim said it would be three 
or four days before the ground was dry enough for corn 
planting. 

On the second day Norwell grew very impatient. He 
thought there was no need of waiting so long. Jim had gone 
to town, and at dinner time Tom announced his intention of 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 s 1 

hitching to the planter and making a start. There was no 
water visible on the surface, and that was one evidence that the 
ground was dry enough. The whole operation was as new to 
him as it would have been for him to attempt to lead a regi- 
ment of soldiers into battle. But he thought he was capable 
of managing the matter without Jim. He had found no 
serious trouble in plowing, though it was awkward at first. 
He harnessed the horses, hitched them to the planter, filled 
the seed box with corn, and drove into the field to begin. 
The ground was much softer than he expected. The 
horses sank in the loose soil almost to the knees at times. 
Their feet struck the ground with a peculiar plout, plout, 
plout, and the tracks instantly filled with soft mud and water. 
Under its own weight and his, the machine sank so deep into 
the loose soil that its axle scraped the ground in places, 
making a broad trail as if a barn door loaded with stone had 
been dragged along. It was with difficulty the horses could 
draw it as they floundered in the mud. Nor well began to 
conclude that it was rather wet for planting, but there was 
one thing sure, he was getting it in deep enough. 

He drove along slowly till he came to a place where the 
ground was hollowed slightly like a big shallow dish. The 
place looked like an immense pan of soft black pudding. 
Here and there a very small pool of water showed above the 
oozy surface. Norwell unhesitatingly drove the team into 
this spot, but to his consternation they stopped, unwilling to 
proceed. The restive animals drew their feet from the mud, 
only to sink deeper. The planter settled into the ground at 
an astonishing rate, and threatened to disappear entirely. 
Norwell urged the horses forward, but they obstinately 
refused to budge. Then he jumped off the planter to lead 
them and found himself sinking in the loose black mud up to 
his shoe tops. Taking the horses by the bits he tried to lead 
them forward. They either could not or would not move an 
inch. Growing impatient he struck the leader a blow with 
the ends of the lines. The restive animal making a desperate 
plunge to free himself, reared his fore quarters high in the air, 
and came down with a thud, knocking down his driver. 
Tom’s feet had sunk so deep in the mud that he could not get 
out of the way, and he was thrown flat on his back with his 
legs under the horse’s body, which sank deep into the oozy 
soil. The situation was an exceedingly dangerous one. 
Norwell was uninjured because he sank into the mud so read- 


3 82 


AN IRON CROWN. 


ily, that the weight of the animal, though very painful, was 
not liable to injure his limbs immediately. But the other 
horse was badly frightened, and was pulling sideways so hard 
that the harness would soon choke his prostrate fellow to 
death. Then if the animal still standing, lost his head and 
began to plunge, he was very liable to fall on top of both, 
and kill his owner and his mate. 

In this terrible situation Tom retained his presence of 
mind. He first yelled at the top of his voice for assistance. 
Then, with much painful effort, he succeeded in getting his 
pocket-knife out, and by reaching forward in a way that 
twisted his body unmercifully, and made his legs feel as if 
they were about to be pulled olf, he with much difficulty cut 
the hame-string of the fallen animal, and insured him from 
choking. This also enabled the other horse to stand easier, 
being relieved from the weight of his fellow. That weight 
however, came so heavy now on Norwell’s thighs, that he 
felt as if his limbs were bursting. He called again, and fortu- 
nately two men were passing along the road only a short 
distance away. They heard him, and ran to the rescue. To 
cut away the harness and free the other horse was but the 
work of a moment. Then, while one of them patted the 
prostrate animal and coaxed him to rise, the other grasped 
Tom’s arms firmly, and prepared to drag him out as soon as 
the horse began to get up, for there was danger that the animal 
might crush the prostrate man. With a snort, a desperate 
effort and a shower of mud, the horse sprang to his feet, and 
Tom was extricated in safety. Neither he nor the horse 
was in the least injured. 

“ You was in a mighty ticklish fix, stranger,” said one of 
the men. 

“ Well, I was for a fact. I’m obliged to you. I think 
you have saved my life.” 

Then, as the ludicrous phase of the accident struck Nor- 
well he burst into a hearty laugh followed by the other men 
who had been considerately suppressing their risibility. After 
all there was nothing broken to speak of, and nothing hurt. 
Tom, plastered from head to foot with mud, put the horses 
in the stable and went to the house. 

“ Why, Tom,” said Alice, “ what on earth have you been 
doing? ” 

“ Planting corn, that’s all. It’s very muddy work I find.” 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 


THE POETRY OF SHEEP-SHEARING. ALSO A LITTLE 

BACKACHE. 

The corn was finally got into the ground in good order 
before the end of May. Then, before the crop was ready to 
cultivate, came sheep-shearing with those farmers who at- 
tempted sheep-keeping on the broad prairies. Mr. Bryce 
as a large farmer, kept a little of every kind of stock 
known to the country, and had some three hundred head of 
fine sheep. It was arranged that Norwell and his hired hand, 
Jim Cain, should assist one of Bryce’s hired men to shear. 

If the reader does not already suspect it, it may be as well 
to inform him right here, that this narrative has reached a 
poetical period in its progress. There is perhaps more poetry 
and traditional sentiment associated with the sheep or bottled 
up in his innocent anatomy, ready for instant use, than in any 
other natural production. When the spring poet is hard put 
to for a simile, the playful lambkin always gambols in to his 
assistance, though why the cub of the polar bear has never 
been associated with the Northwestern spring is beyond com- 
prehension. His constitution and habits certainly fit him for 
enduring the rigors of a May blizzard far better than the 
lambkin. This constant readiness on the part of the lamb to 
help poets and school girl essay writers out of a hole is ex- 
ceedingly kind of him, seeing that his presence is often de- 
manded when a Norther has caused the thermometer to 
skurry down in the neighborhood of zero inside a few hours. 
Then when the politician or the political journalist is in need 
of a striking, yet simple and touching figure, he pictures his 
party (which he calls the people) as the immaculate lamb, 
while the opposite party is the unspeakable wolf, whose 
mouth waters for a bite of this delicious, fresh mutton. Him- 
self he poses as the valiant shepherd, and guards the fold by 
snugly tucking the lamb into his own vest pocket. Then the 
theologian dreams of a time, too, when the lion and the lamb 
shall lie down together, the lamb outside that royal sneak, 

(383) 


3 % 


AN IKON CROWN. 


instead of inside, as has been the custom heretofore. Virgil 
found the lamb indispensable to a species of poetry called 
bucolic, and poets have ever since worked this apparently 
inexhaustible vein, until the lamb is as necessary to the poet- 
aster as moonshine is to penny a line love. But as a type of 
a Northwestern spring, I insist that we must have the polar 
bear, or at least the arctic fox. 

In the eyes of many city people country life is beatified 
by a constant halo of poetry. The school readers of twenty- 
five years ago pictured haying as a most romantic and enviable 
occupation. They spoke of tossing the sweet-scented hay 
into the fragrant breezes, as if it had been delightful play in- 
stead of a back-breaking, throat-parching, muscle-grinding, 
early-and-late operation, the only pleasure pertaining to which 
was the fact that it was at last done. The writer of those 
very sentimental but enormous lies, by some unaccountable 
summersault of his imagination (for he never held a pitchfork 
in his life) had pictured hay -making as a very agreeable pas- 
time, something similar, for example, to eating a lemon cream 
with a bewitching young lady. This description of hay- 
making was as incomprehensible to the country boy who 
knew all about it, as it was misleading to the city boy who 
knew nothing about it. The former could not make it out. 
He had little help from his teachers, because school teachers 
in those days, and very often nowadays unfortunately, were 
so intent on giving the mill so manv revolutions per day that 
they never noticed whether it was grinding or not, and thus 
often ran with an empty hopper. Then, the juvenile brain, 
as now, was often dull, and the impatient teacher, despairing 
of inciting ideas in the proper region, frequently attempted to 
stimulate them on other portions of the anatomy, doubtless 
on the principle of counter irritation. So if teacher or pupil 
gave this literature any thought at all, which was seldom, 
they concluded it must refer to hay-making in some other 
world. Had the writer of such school books ever pitched 
dusty hay onto a stack for twelve hours per day with a big 
three-pronged fork till every pore of his body dripped sweat, 
till his back seemed ready to crack every minute, and his 
tongue was as dry as a smoked herring, then perhaps he 
would have known how to get a few bed-rock facts into his 
description of hay-making. And so the enchantment of 
most agricultural labor, including that which pertains to sheep 
husbandry, lies chiefly in the fact that you can let some other 
fellow perform it. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


385 


On Monday morning all was ready at Bryce’s to begin 
the sheep-shearing. The men were dressed in their oldest 
clothes, and besides wore blue cotton blouses. Mr. Bryce was 
to do nothing but roll the wool into neat fleeces, clean side out, 
and oversee the work generally. “ Boys, you three ought to 
clean up the whole three hundred in three days easily,” he re- 
marked before they began. Low platforms about two feet 
and a quarter high had been arranged to shear on. The 
sheep were penned in the same shed where they would be 
handy to catch. The animal to be sheared is not tied in any 
way, but simply set upright on its hindquarters. The 
shearer places his left foot on an elevated rest, and leans the 
body of the sheep backward over his left thigh, and begins 
operations, having both hands free to engage in the work. 
The manure had lately been hauled from the shed, a part of 
which had no roof. The night before a slight shower had 

o o 

wet the smooth, discolored, putty-looking ground, and it was 
now about as slippery as a layer of soft soap. The two hired 
men by a dexterous dash caught a sheep apiece and showed 
Norwell how to begin by first shearing the entire head care- 
fully, then working down and around the body. 

“ Now Norwell,” said Jim, “ go in and catch your sheep.” 
Norwell went in. There was a twinkling of numerous 
sheep’s heels, but to his surprise, among so many legs he was 
not able to lay hold of any. He had been cautioned not to 
catch them by the wool, which was much easier. The sheep, 
as if fleeing for dear life, scuttled away to the far end of the 
shed. Norwell and Mr. Bryce drove them back, and Tom 
prepared for another dash. About the center of the exposed 
part of the shed was a little hole in the smooth ground filled 
with water. I11 his second dash Norwell selected a particular 
sheep which, of course, made frantic efforts to evade him. 

“ Take any one,” yelled Bryce. As the twinkling legs 
flitted past him he made another dash. But he had not 
noticed the little pool of water. His feet were in the air in a 
second, and he sat down in that hole with what seemed to 
him extraordinary celerity. He felt as if he had sat down 
with a striking force of about a ton. The dirty water flew 
in a spray in every direction. The shearers dropped their 
shears and devoted themselves for a brief space to a rib-start- 
ing explosion at this most ludicrous attitude of Norwell as he 
sat for a moment in the hole where water had been, but where 
it was no more. He rose slowly and looked into the little hoi- 


3 86 


AN IRON CROWN. 


low which had just fit his well-proportioned body. He was 
surprised that the hole was no deeper; he thought he had 
sat down hard enough to make a cavity at least twice as deep. 
“ You’re a capital swab,” said Mr. Bryce. 

“ Making post-holes? ” queried Bryce’s man. 

“ How is the subsoil down there, Norwell?” asked Jim. 
“Not so yielding as I expected.” Then Norwell realized 
that he was dripping from head to foot with the dirty water. 
But he had on cast-off clothing, and the weather was warm. 
Then a man’s appearance, which is everything in the city, is 
nothing in the country, particularly in sheep-shearing. 

Next time a sheep was caught with very little difficulty. 
Norwell beganf according to directions, on the animal’s nose 
and worked upward around its eyes and ears. He was sur- 
prised at the number of protuberances ^bout a sheep and 
wondered how they had survived so many shearings without 
having been all clipped off. The poor sheep realizing that he 
was in the hands of a novice, was uneasy, and suddenly 
turned his head. Tom was horrified at seeing a vicious slash 
of the stiff-springed shears cut off a great piece from one eye- 
brow. This was a sort of ante-mortem not down on the bills. 
Tom felt uneasy at such wicked work, but clipped away and 
tried to mop off the blood with bits of waste wool. Pretty 
soon the sheep gave another sudden turn of his head, and the 
unfeeling shears lopped off the point of one ear. Tom Nor- 
well now began to wish that some scientist was present to 
improve the occasion of so much vivisection. Mr. Bryce, 
who happened along, seeing this surgical operation, said good 
humoredly : 

“Steady, Norwell, steady. A sheep can stand a good 
deal of pruning and not mind it, but you must leave a little of 
him, a sort of graft, you know, or he may not pull through.” 
“Mr. Bryce, 1 think you had better send for the coroner 
at once. I don’t believe there will be enough of this sheep 
left to make even a graft by the time I get through, and the 
inquest had better be held while there is plenty of remains.” 
“If you don’t reduce him too much he will pull through. 
Pshaw, he’ll not know the difference in a week.” 

“Why wouldn’t it be a good scheme,” asked Jim, “to put 
the lambs’ tails into a flower-pot when we cut them off, and 
raise another crop of lambs from them ? ” 

“Jim, I’ll let you have ’em, free, when you get ready to 
go into the sheep business,” replied Mr. Bryce. Then they 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 S 7 


/ 


all laughed uproariously at this tremendous witticism, just as 
the countryman does at a circus joke on its fortieth annual 
appearance. 

Norwell was surprised, after finishing the very ticklish 
operation of shearing the head, to find that the body of a 
sheep consisted of little else but wrinkles. Jim told him to 
straighten them out with his left hand. But the wrinkles 
always seemed to reappear at the critical moment, and always 
just under the big, sharp shears. Then a piece of skin was 
snipped out which appeared about the size of a dime. But 
when the helpless victim wriggled himself into' a position 
where this spot was on a bump instead of on a wrinkle, it ap- 
peared to Tom’s astonished gaze about the size of a small tea 
saucer. He clipped away industriously till his sheep was half 
done, when he found to his mortification that Jim and the 
other man had turned loose three each, and Bryce’s man had 
nearly finished the fourth. Norwell lay down his shears to turn 
his sheep around so he could shear the other side. The im- 
patient animal, knowing that time had elapsed more than suf- 
ficient for any operation a sheep was familiar with, objected to 
a continuance of the sitting, and raised himself at the same 
instant he raised the objection. He gave a sudden squirm, 
stiffened his hind legs on the platform, bowed his neck, made 
a corkscrew of himself, and with an agile bound went flying 
away before Tom could grab anything but the tattered fleece. 
A sheep’s leg is a very fragile looking member, but the 
amount of energy it can exert is marvelous. With a few 
quick “ sheep” jumps the alarmed animal freed itself from the 
hanging fleece, which was torn to shreds and draggled in the 
dirt. - With some difficulty the victim was recaptured and put 
to the torture again, and finally the shearing was completed. 
The animal when turned loose was so spotted with patches 
that it was difficult to tell whether the greater part of the skin 
had been removed or left on. He resembled, somewhat, one 
of those freshly-skinned, boiled hams neatly decorated with 
pepper spots by the deft fingers of ladies, for the purpose of 
beguiling the coveted quarters from the pockets of visitors 
at a church fair. Mr. Bryce remarked that the skin remain- 
ing ran in spots a little, and perhaps a more regular distribu- 
tion might have suited the sheep better, had it been consulted, 
but, on the whole, he supposed there might be worse jobs. At 
dinner time Norwell had his third sheep about half done. If 
he waited to finish he should be late for dinner at least half an 


3 S8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


hour, so Bryce’s man kindly finished the clip for him in a few 
minutes. At dinner May, who was waiting on the table, 
asked him : 

“ How many sheep did you shear, Mr. Norwell?” 

“Two and a half.” 

u Two and a half! How did you get the half sheep?” 

“ Had help on that sheep.” Norwell could give or take 
a joke as well as anybody, but something in his tone seemed 
to indicate that he preferred to talk in the presence of his 
lady love on some other subject, so no more was said about 
the day’s work. 

That afternoon all hands worked silently and with unre- 
mitting industry. No jesting or bantering was indulged in, 
because every minute must be put in to make a full day’s 
work, for the forenoon start had been poor. Mr. Bryce was 
ready to talk or crack a joke at any time when he had leisure, 
but when he hired men for a day’s work he expected a full 
day’s work. His favorite argument was that men could not 
work and talk at the same time. The other men turned 
loose sheep at a rate which surprised Norwell. The pecul- 
iar bending posture necessary to hold the sheep in place was 
exceedingly tiresome. Norwell felt as if his back must 
certainly give way. He alternately stooped a little lower 
than was necessary, or raised a little higher than was con- 
venient, in order to relieve the strain on his aching muscles. 
Between these two extremes there was a sort of dead point 
where it seemed as if nature could endure no longer. But 
he held out manfully, and began to get “ the hang” of the 
business, as Jim expressed it. At night, as a result of all this 
torture, Tom had turned loose seven half-skinned, miserable 
victims, Jim had twenty-five done better, while Bryce’s man 
had sheared thirty- seven as smooth as velvet, and scarcely a 
cut visible. 

On the second day Norwell felt as if he had passed 
through a carpet beating establishment. After the violent 
exercise he had caught cold by sitting in the twilight in his 
shirt sleeves talking to the men. On first beginning work 
every movement was an excruciating torture. As he stooped 
over the struggling sheep it seemed that the muscles of his 
back must be giving way fiber by fiber, slowly but surely, 
like the strands of a loose rope subjected to a great strain, and 
that sooner or later they would part with a sudden snap. 
Then, like Captain Kidd, he swore a great oath that he was 


AN IRON CROWN. 


3 8 9 


not cut out for a farmer, only his oath was a powerful mental 
one, while the malediction of the celebrated pirate is said to 
have been very tangible. 

There is a little story (doubtless as old as the fact that it 
illustrates) of a Teutonic parent who castigated his offspring 
severely for swearing. The boy, however, so stoutly asserted 
his innocence that the rod of discipline hung for a moment 
suspended in doubt. Though the Teutonic mind moves 
slowly, it exhibits no little fertility of resource. After a 
pause of painful interest to the party of the second part, 
Mine Herr evolved the following startling conclusion: 
“Veil, dot bin all right, Hans, if you tidn’t schwear. But 
you tinks tammit now, an’ I yoost vips you for dot.” The 
logic of Mine Herr, though perhaps a trifle caustic, is based 
after all on a principle, for a sin of the imagination may be, 
in fact usually is, the parent of a sin in fact. 

Norwell went home in no very good humor. He was 
disg'usted with the world and with himself. He left Bryce’s 
without saying good-night to May. He reached home half 
disposed to find fault with his sister for urging him to take 
the farm. He was in that disagreeable mood which most of 
us have sometimes when the whole world appears to be 
down on us, and we, ready to give as good as we get, are 
down on the whole world. At such times the quarrelsome 
man is itching to knock somebody down, the mean man goes 
home and acts ugly in his family, the bibulous man goes out 
and gets gloriously full, and the Christian — well, even a 
Christian’s wife and children know when he is in a bad 
humor by the way he kicks the cat, for example. He forgot, 
in tact, like many men, he scarcely realized what the woman 
of the house had been doing. His muscles often ached, it is 
true. Hers ached daily as she cooked, washed, swept, 
baked, churned, fed the poultry, made beds, washed the 
dishes, polished the stove, hoed the garden, and so on through 
an interminable list of petty, vexatious details. Then Alice 
was only a sister. A wife might besides have had the care 
of several children to double her daily labors. 

A neighbor had brought a letter that day from the post- 
office. Alice noticed that it bore the New York postmark, 
and that the address was in Chetta Ingledee’s hand. 

“ Here is a letter for you, Tom.” He opened the letter 
and read it in silence. 

“ Any special news from our New York friends?” she 
ventured to inquire. 


39 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Nothing of interest.” This was said in a tone which 
plainly indicated that he did not wish to be questioned on the 
subject. After a pause of a few minutes, she remarked: 

“ Tom, the chickens are not doing well shut up.” 

“ Why not?” 

“ They have nearly stopped laying. Mrs. Smith says 
they will do no good in confinement.” 

u I wish Mrs. Smith would stay away from here if she 
has nothing else to do but put forty things into your head for 
me to attend to.” 

<c Why it is nothing to Mrs. Smith,” retorted Alice, in 
some surprise, “ what we do with our chickens. I think my- 
self if we want eggs or young chickens we must turn the 
hens out.” 

w They’ll scratch up the garden.” 

“ I will watch them.” 

“ All right, I’ll turn them out in the morning. But I 
want nothing more to do with them.” 

After that Alice had to run out fifty times per day, more 
or less, to u shoo” the chickens out of the garden. Then 
Tom got a big dog to guard it, but he created more havoc 
chasing the fowls over the beds than the chickens did them- 
selves. So the dog was tied up and had to be fed three times 
per day. 

June was a propitious month. The crops all gave most 
excellent promise. The corn, in spite of late planting, was 
looking first-rate. When they first began cultivating it Tom 
was afraid to plow close to the rows lest he might uproot the 
young plants. Jim told him to plow closer. By a dexterous 
manipulation of the cultivator Jim could throw the loose soil 
up around the corn, covering the young weeds completely, 
and the corn at once shot up in a strong stalk. Norwell’s 
rows on the other hand showed a long green ribbon of weeds 
that nearly smothered the corn. It took him some days 
to master what seemed at first very easy. Under the 
propitious influences of a hot June sun and the most fertile of 
soils the corn grew so fast that it was no violent strain of the 
imagination to fancy one could see it grow. This dark- 
green, stately, semi-tropical plant puts to shame with its 
glowing beauty of blade, tassel and plume, the most pre- 
tentious exotic that ever languished under glass. And yet 
this prince of all plants, like a prophet, has little honor in its 
own country, being constantly associated with that unclean 


AN IRON CROWN. 


39 1 

beast, the hog. Inseparable they have gone into history to- 
gether in the Southwestern dish known as “ hog and 
hominy.” 

While things were going so well on the farm in general, 
Alice’s department did not flourish. The neighboring 
women were selling eggs and butter enough to buy groceries 
for their families, calicoes, shoes, and in some instances “hick- 
ory” to make the men everyday shirts. The more thrifty 
farmers, however, bought their supplies in larger quantities 
to be paid for when the crops were sold. 

Alice Norwell’s schemes did not prosper. Her hens after 
much tribulation and effort had hatched about fifty chickens. 
But alas! a few wet days appeared simultaneous with the 
chicks, and half the unfortunate infants died with the gapes. 
This disease was checked with dry weather, and about twen- 
ty-five thrifty young fowls promised a reward for so much 
trouble* But there is a tide in the affairs of chickens as well 
as men. In fact, in this case there were two, and the second 
swept away the remnant left by the first. Suddenly the 
young chickens began to disappear at night. They were not 
large enough to tempt any one to steal them, hence there 
was an unsolved mystery about the matter somewhere. The 
dog was securely tied, but he barked and scratched a great 
deal in the night. Still the chickens disappeared regularly. 

One day the former tenant of the place (who after all 
with characteristic inertia had not worked up his courage to 
the point of emigrating to Kansas) called, and on hearing the 
mystery of the missing chickens, pronounced it no mystery 
at all. 

“ I ’low the varmin has done took ’em.” 

“The varmin! What is that ?” inquired Tom. The man 
stared in surprise at such astounding ignorance, then replied : 

“ Waal, all sorts o’ wild truck, sich as skunks, an’ ’pos- 
sums, an’ coon. I ’low mebbe this hyur tarnal critter was a 
mushrat. There’s a right smart sprinklin’ uv them this year. 
Let the dog loose at night.” 

That night “ Bounce” was untied, and next morning a 
huge muskrat lay dead in the yard, the victim of over-confi- 
dence. Meantime all the young chickens were killed but 
one ungainly rooster. As an only child this bird assumed un- 
usual privileges. He grew to be a great, clumsy, comical- 
looking thing, and had so much self assurance that in a hap- 
py streak of facetiousness Jim Cain called him after a certain 


39 3 


AN IRON CROWN. 


statesman of national reputation and monumental brass. 
The u statesman ” helped himself to the best there was going. 
He was an indefatigable forager in the kitchen, to Alice’s 
great annoyance. As the solitary spring chicken remaining, 
he realized that certain immunities were his. He held such 
an important place in the family interests that, in a letter to 
her friend, Mrs. Wylie, who had not yet been able to visit 
the Nor wells, Alice referred to this relic of her crop of 
spring chickens. 

There was a fine crop of delicious cherries, and Alice de- 
termined to dry some after canning all she wished. With 
much labor she removed the pits from enough to cover a 
large wooden board, which she placed in the sun on the low 
roof of the woodshed. But the statesman, like his human 
namesake, could scent spoils even when they were invisible. 
With much effort, for he was a heavy bird, he flew and just 
missed landing on the roof. By holding on with his head to 
the eaves, while he flapped furiously with his wings and 
worked his long legs with marvelous rapidity, he at last sur- 
mounted the difficulty and reached the roof, where with bus- 
iness-like dispatch he devoured all the cherries unobserved. 
Alice had heard him fly up there and thought nothing about 
it. But her wrath was kindled at this crowning outrage, and 
she demanded the statesman’s life. But courageous woman 
that she was, she could not bear to kill a chicken. The men 
admired the statesman’s comic antics, and would not. The 
muskrats dared not, and so this solitary spring chicken lived 
and flourished. 


CHAPTER XXXIX. 

A WESTERN CYCLONE. HOW RAILROADS DIVIDE WITH 

THE FARMER. 

It was midsummer and the weather was exceedingly hot. 
The corn had sprung up with wonderful rapidity and was 
now in tassel. The potatoes had grown till they had burst 
their hills open in wide cracks. All nature was in fact, as 
lavish of her wealth as she knew how to be in these regions 
of wonderful fertility. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


393 


One hot day late in July Norwell and his man were busy 
finishing the hay harvest. The sun blazed from a cloudless 
sky, and the heat was most oppressive on the prairies. There 
was not a breath of air stirring. The cattle sought the shade 
of the scrub-oak groves, where the dumb creatures waged 
incessant warfare with the remorseless, green-headed, blood- 
thirsty fly. The hogs rooted fresh places in the very damp- 
est ground or plunged directly into the pools of the fast-fail- 
ing creek where they were fortunate enough to have access 
to the stream. The birds were silent and inactive in the 
orchards and long osage hedges. The chickens moped 
sluggishly with drooping wings, the very picture of abject 
discomfort in this sweltering, stifling heat. The leaves on the 
trees hung with a slightly wilted, limp appearance, and in- 
clined to expose their whitish under sides, unmoved by the 
stagnant atmosphere. The heat rose from the baked earth 
in a visible, faint-bluish vapor, that continually zig-zagged 
upward with a tremulous motion. The shirts of the laborers 
were as wet as if they had been dipped in water. The horses 
looked as if they had just emerged from a bath in the river. 

Away off to the southwest there had hung all day low in 
the horizon a long bank of beautiful fleecy u thunderheads.” 
These exquisite creations of the atmosphere looked like a fairy- 
land. The silvery, motionless masses of clouds, extending in a 
long line, sharply defined against the soft blue sky, looked 
strikingly like a chain of snow-capped mountains in the far 
distance. The fleecy piles rose high at irregular intervals like 
peaks, and had apparently all the stability of land. Their 
brilliant edges alone were too conspicuous to carry out the 
illusion fully. This delicate line looked like a burnished alloy 
of silver and gold, in which the gold showed plainest. To 
the poetic imagination there is no more romantic phenom- 
enon of nature, than these piles of fantastic, ever-changing 
clouds. 

Jim Cain, however lacking in poetic appreciation of this 
beautiful spectacle, was weather- wise enough to read in it a 
coming storm. Accustomed, as a natural consequence of his 
out door life, to observe closely the phenomena of nature, he 
knew all u signs,” and prophesied a thunder storm in the 
afternoon. They labored diligently to finish the hay before 
rain came. About two o’clock in the afternoon the long: line of 
clouds began to rise slowly and show beneath it a black band. 
In this dark belt an occasional flash of lightning was visible, 


394 


AN IRON CROWN. 


and before long the low rumbling of thunder could be heard. 
The black belt of clouds increased rapidly in width and filled 
the whole horizon in the west. Suddenly these apparently 
motionless, fleecy masses seemed driven rapidly onward by 
some force behind. Their color became an inky black as the 
still unobscured sun shone on them, and this black mass rapidly 
filled the western sky. Now the upper edge lost its fleecy out- 
lines as it was pushed on by the inky masses behind. The sun 
was obscured and the heavens grew dark. The fore part of the 
advancing cloud now high in the heavens, began to look like 
a frightful dark pall with an irregular, fringing, lower edge 
torn into dying shreds. The inky belt below changed into a 
leaden gray, through which the lightning played incessantly 
and the thunder rolled in deafening peals. The frightened 
birds and animals sought refuge. It became almost as dark 
as night. Still there was not a breath of wind, or a drop of 
rain. 

Suddenly a mighty fragment of the great ragged curtain 
seemed to drop toward the ground in the shape of an enor- 
mous funnel, which lengthened into a huge, rope-like body, 
that could be seen to revolve with frightful velocity. This 
mighty column with a great funnel-shaped top now appeared 
to shoot ahead of the other clouds, and move forward with 
the speed of a race horse. It was the dreaded cyclone on its 
awful career of devastation. People sought their cellars in 
terror, and waited for the worst. The black column sped 
swiftly past from west to east about two miles south of 
Norwell’s. A horrible roaring noise accompanied its move- 
ments. It was not merely air in motion. It was some 
giant force striking a mighty blow. With the crash of a 
thousand hammers it struck buildings and instantly crushed 
them into kindling wood. It leaped from the ground only 
to bound down again with increased force. It was an electric 
discharge, a palpable thunder clap with the speed of a can- 
non ball and the strength of an earthquake. It was a black 
and nameless terror that bore death and desolation in its 
wanton career, and rivaled nature’s deadliest scourges. 

Houses and other buildings were wrenched from their 
foundations and scattered far and wide, till scarcely one beam 
remained fast to another. Trees were torn from their roots 
or twisted round and round till the trunk was one mass 
of long splinters. The water was lifted from the beds of 
streams in a body, and scattered to the winds. Curious 


AN IRON CROWN. 


395 


pranks were played by the cyclone. One house was turned 
round on its foundations, with little injury, till it faced the 
south instead of the east. A rail was driven endwise through 
a door leaving a clean round hole such as a cannon ball makes. 
Articles of furniture and apparel were dangling in the tops of 
trees. Scraps of paper were found at a distance of one hun- 
dred miles from the place whence they started. Fortunately 
this track of devastation was only about half a mile wide. 
But the cyclone had left desolation and mourning behind it. 
Several people had been killed outright, and a greater num- 
ber injured. 

After the excitement caused by the cyclone had subsided, 
things settled again into the quiet routine of farm life. May 
Bryce had obtained Tom’s consent that she might inform 
her parents of their engagement with the understanding that 
he wished it for the present to remain a secret. Alice was 
not to know till Tom succeeded in making money, a notion 
which he persisted in, despite of its absurdity. Mr. Bryce 
was pleased with the prospect of having Norwell for a son- 
in-law. He thought him a very u likely ” young man. Mrs. 
Bryce was scarcely pleased, either with May’s choice or the 
manner in which the choice was made, hut she sensibly ac- 
quiesced, realizing that opposition then could be prolific only 
of harm. 

May was now supremely happy, the happiest she had 
ever been, the fear of offending her parents having been re- 
moved. She had Tom all to herself here, and with the sense 
of exclusive possession, the old morbid fear of Chetta Ingle- 
dee’s power died out, or at least slumbered. Her health im- 
proved. Her rosy cheeks assumed a natural hue. Her old 
time buoyancy returned. Norwell thought she grew more 
bewitching every day. Still, he was dimly cognizant of a 
feeling that the companionship of this trusting girl with her 
country manners, did not satisfy him, and he invariably on 
such occasions compared her with Chetta Ingledee, whose 
prompt decisiveness of character was more to his notion. 

Alice was not to be deceived. She had told her brother 
of her engagement to Wilson at an early date. But he gave 
no sign of making the confidence mutual. She had for a long 
time known that May loved him dearly, and suspected that 
there was an understanding between them. As time wore on 
she had seen several of those letters bearing the New York 
postmark. Alice Norwell knew perfectly well that most 




39 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


men are capable of a little flirtation sometime in their lives. 
She suspected Tom and grew indignant at the thought of his 
playing with the feelings of a confiding, inexperienced girl. As 
for Chetta, well, she thought that young lady was abundantly 
able to take care of herself. She determined to speak to Tom, 
and, one evening when Jim was away, broached the subject. 
“Torn, will you be over at Bryce’s any time this week?” 
a Yes, probably. Why?” 

“ I want to send May the last magazine.” 

“ I’ll take it over.” 

“ I suppose you might read the stories to her.” 

“ I might, if she liked it.” 

“ Tom, I think she would like it.” Tom made no reply 
to this bid for his confidence. 

“May is a good girl, Tom. She will make a lovely 
woman.” 

“Of course she will. Who said she wouldn’t?” 

“You must be getting quite well acquainted with her.” 

“ Oh, so, so.” 

“ I suppose you have thought this matter over, Tom. 
You are aware that when a single gentleman pays continued 
attention to a young lady something is usually expected to 
come of it.” 

“People have been talking, eh? Well, let them. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bryce are the only ones who have any right to dis- 
cuss the subject.” This hint did not deter Alice. 

“ Perhaps they might say something, too, if they knew 
some things. Tom, how can you pay such attentions to Miss 
Bryce, and continue your relations with Miss Ingledee at the 
same time?” 

“ What relations? What do you mean?” 

“ I mean those letters.” 

“ That’s nothing, only old friendship.” 

“Then it should be understood by all. Otherwise, your 
course is not honorable.” This nettled him. He was deter- 
mined to end these interferences on the part of his sister. 

“ Alice, you seem to think I need a guardian by the way 
you advise me. You think we should have been better off if 
I had taken your advice oftener. I admit that. But I am no 
boy. In the selection of my friends I must reserve the right 
to do as I please. I can manage those affairs myself.” 

“Very well, Tom. I only stated how it looked to others. 
You, of course, must decide for yourself. Think it over well 
and do what is right.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


397 


“ You’re afraid I’ll do something that isn’t right, are you?” 
“No, not that, Tom. But it is well to review our own 
actions occasionally.” He was too well bred to get angry 
and quarrel with his sister, and she had too much good sense 
to carry matters too far at first. Still, there was some ill- 
feeling on his part and a deep indignation on hers. Nothing 
more was said on the subject. Alice would have felt a little 
guilty to repeat this conversation to May; besides, it would 
not have been safe, as she did not know just how matters 
stood between her brother and May or Chetta. Tom, how- 
ever, ordered the postmaster to deliver his letters only to 
himself. A few days after this conversation, Alice was at 
Prairie Grande and called, as usual, at the postoffice for their 
mail. The postmaster handed her two or three papers and a 
letter for herself through the little window. 

“ Is there nothing more?” 

“ No.” 

“ Nothing for my brother?” 

“Yes, here is a letter for Thomas Norwell, but I have 
orders not to deliver his mail to anybody but himself.” 

“ I will take that. It is for my brother.” 

“ I have orders not to let it go, Miss Norwell.” 

“ But I am his sister.” 

“ That makes no difference. I have strict orders not to 
deliver his mail to any one else.” 

Alice turned away from the little window, inexpressibly 
pained. She understood why the mail was refused to her. 
Her brother, who had been her playmate and almost her 
second self all their lives, was now estranged beyond recon- 
ciliation. He had even allowed a stranger to become cog- 
nizant of the alienation. She harbored no bitter feelings. 
She still loved that brother, and would make any required 
sacrifice for him because he was her brother, but the old 
mutual trust and affection was a thing of the past, never more 
to return. 

Autumn came, and with it the gorgeous Indian summer. 
The weather was delightful, the roads good, and life in the 
country at its very best in this most enjoyable of all seasons. 
There was now more leisure. There was not the continual 
hurry to get a crop into the ground, or to get it off. Corn 
husking had not begun, and the fall seeding proceeded lei- 
surely. Country fairs were in full operation. Prize bullocks 
and prize pumpkins abounded, while rosy-cheeked country 


39 » 


AN IRON CROWN. 


girls in Sunday “ rig,” with their “ fellers ” at their sides, 
took in the fair and the circus, consuming betimes vast quan- 
tities of insipid lemonade, popcorn, candy and peanuts. 

Apple cuttings, too, were popular. At these gatherings 
from forty to fifty young folks, and some old ones assemble. 
The evening is passed in hilarious enjoyment, paring and cor- 
ing apples, cracking ancient rural jokes, and sparking on the 
sly incessantly. The apple paring continues until about ten 
o’clock, when the debris of cores and rinds is cleaned up, 
which operation is accompanied by a great deal of boisterous 
fun. Many a pretty damsel finds her fair neck encircled by a 
rather uncomfortable necklace of long apple rinds clammy 
with juice. Cores and even whole apples fly across the room. 
And occasionally some gay youth who, perhaps, had similar 
designs on some one else in the room, receives such a flying 
missile full in the optic, filling that necessary organ with 
mingled cider and tears, to the utter discomfiture of its 
owner. 

After the house has been “ rid up,” the guests are regaled 
with cookies, enormous wedges of cake and quarter sections of 
pies. After refreshments the u playing ” begins, for the old- 
fashioned plays still linger in the country, and perhaps will 
endure for all time in spite of the steam engine, the telegr aph, 
the telephone and the daily newspaper. “Under the Juniper 
tree,” “Postoffice,” “Spat ’em out,” and “Copenhagen” are 
great favorites. Few games are popular, which require any 
particular literary culture. Copenhagen, which is so well 
known as to need no description, is in some localities very 
popular because the young folks, more ingenuous than their 
city bred cousins, tacitly admit that osculation is pleasant. It 
is amusing, and withal a lesson in social economy to see some 
great strapping country girl “ tag ” the most modest and best 
looking boy in the company, and then fly round the circle 
like mad to evade the forfeit of a kiss, all the time secretly 
hoping he will overtake her. On the other hand some of the 
young* men persistently display their want of gallantry and 
gentlemanly instinct by slighting the homely girls. This 
species of young man, however, is not confined to the coun- 
try. He is found everywhere, and there is no more conceited, 
disagreeable little puppy in existence. These rural gather- 
ings were a constant source of interest to Alice Norwell, who 
contrasted the hearty, though at times rude enjoyment found 
here, with its antipodes, the artificial, elegant society of New 


AN IRON CROWN. 


399 


York. Tom enjoyed them with a thorough zest, though he 
never could quite enter into the spirit of the country dance. 
Next to a cyclone or a moderate earthquake, this saltatory 
amusement is most unsettling to the house in which it takes 
place. 

One disagreeable autumn day Deacon Brown called to see 
Nor well on some business. Tom was absent, and the Deacon 
seemed disposed to await his return. It was a wet day, one 
of the first of the fall, and the visitor, who could do nothing 
at home, ensconsed himself by the kitchen stove. Alice was 
baking bread, and when the Deacon got into the corner by 
the wood box she found it rather close quarters, when she 
wished to look at the bread, or put wood in the stove. She 
was obliged to edge in sidewise past his shins to get at the 
wood which was needed every few minutes. The Deacon sat, 
unconcerned after the first trial, for he saw the thing could be 
done, and so troubled himself no more about it. To her 
horror he deliberately spit in the woodbox among the wood. 
The Deacon was incurably addicted to this habit of ptyalism, 
which becomes inveterate, and is so disagreeable. Our Eng- 
lish cousins very properly denounce this unclean practice, 
which they call an Americanism. With their customary 
superficial knowledge of this country, they think the Ameri- 
can spits because he finds pleasure in it. They overlook the 
causes of the disgusting habit. One is the filthy use of to- 
bacco; another important one is the improper use of very 
hearty food, particularly such as salt pork and greasy com- 
pounds which injure the digestive organs. The first is a vice, 
the second a sin of ignorance. A third very important reason 
is the frequent catarrhs caused by the sudden and extra- 
ordinary changes of temperature incident to our climate. Cer- 
tainly, even an Englishman will not hold us responsible for 
the last. As a retort concerning the second reason, it may be 
said that the average European has no cause for spitting after 
partaking of his scanty, uninviting, husky repast which would 
be scorned by the laborer’s family in America. 

Every few minutes the Deacon would clear his throat and 
discharge a little spray of spittle into the wood box. Alice 
detested this habit even beyond the feeling of the majority of 
women on the subject. But Deacon Brown was apparently 
so utterly unconscious of this nuisance, and he was, moreover, 
such a u light ” in the community that she was obliged to en- 
tertain her guest as best she could, and conceal her feelings. 


400 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Next time she put wood in the stove, however, she took the 
sticks up with an old pair of tongs, and, with much difficulty, 
got them into the stove. 

“ I guess you be right smart of a cook, Miss Nor well,” 
said the Deacon, unconscious of the hint so delicately con- 
veyed by the tongs. 

“ Oh, no, Mr. Brown, I think I’m a very indifferent 
one.” 

“ Naow don’t talk so. That’s the way with all these wo- 
meiv folks. My wife is always runnin’ daown her biscuits 
when we have company, an’ she knows all the time she 
makes the best biscuits in the kyounty. Of course, your 
mother taught you all sorts o’ housework.” 

“No, I never did any work when I was a girl.” 

“Naow that’s mighty queer, fur most of the Eastern 
women know all about housework. They did in Connecticut 
where I was brought up, any way, but then I guess New 
York City’s different, come to think.” 

At length Tom and Jim Cain returned. Deacon Brown 
was invited to dinner, and accepted the invitation. Then he 
staid nearly all the afternoon, as the rain still continued. 
After awhile Mr. Bryce dropped in to have a friendly chat. 
The men talked about the crops and the prospects of the 
farmers’ making money at present prices. The corn crop had 
been excellent. Norwell estimated that he would have about 
three thousand bushels to sell and about one thousand bushels 
of potatoes, besides oats and some hay. At forty cents for 
corn, the price it was then bringing, and thirty cents for pota- 
toes, he figured that he would have left at the end of the year 
some six hundred dollars. This was not much after all his 
expectations, but it was something left besides having a living, 
and further, it was much more than a farmer usually makes 
with the same outlay. 

But Deacon Brown, who had acquired a competence by a 
long life of careful economy and judicious management, had 
some statistics that played havoc with Tom’s figures. The 
Deacon kept posted closely on the markets, and on freight 
rates. Somehow, he always managed to dispose of all his 
surplus at the right time, at least, everybody said so. 

“Norwell, you can’t figure on the Chicago markets for 
your corn. It has ruled there at forty cents all fall. Naow 
it has got up to forty-five, but we get no benefit from it.” 

“ Why not?” 


AN IRON CROWN# 


401 


“ Well, the railroad company advanced freight rates on the 
first.* So you see they take the benefit of the rise.” 

“Just as they have done many times before,” said Mr. 
Bryce. “ You see we have no competition in this section.” 

“ Are you sure of that rise in rates, Deacon?” 

“ I be; the new tariff went into effect last Monday.” 

“ How about potatoes?” 

“ They’re wuss yet. You see, because we’ve no competi- 
tion here, they charge jest what they please. Potatoes ought 
by all kalkilation to be, jest what you figger, thirty cents. 
Under the new tariff they bring twenty-five cents here, and 
the company will take what’s left.” 

“ And that in the face of the fact that this county voted the 
railroad company two hundred thousand dollars in bonds to 
help build its line,” added Mr. Bryce. Here was about one 
hundred and fifty dollars taken from one crop and fifty from 
another, in all one-third of the farmer’s gross income. Who 
was the better for it? The consumer paid as much as ever 
for everything he used. The railroad company pocketed the 
difference under the startling new principle lately laid down by 
certain millionaire thieves, “ Charge all the tariff will bear.” 
“ It is an outrage,” said Norwell. 

“ So it is,” replied Mr. Bryce. “ But what are you going 
to do about it? We’re expecting it here every year, and are 
getting used to it.” 

“ I’ll not stand it. I’ll quit farming first.” 
u But they’re bound to catch you in some shape, no matter 
what avocation you pursue. Their nefarious transactions are 
a tax on the whole people. Did you read Congressman 
Wike’s great speech on the railroad question?” 

“No.” 

“ You read it. Every man in the whole country ought to 
read that speech. He says there are four railroad men in this 
country who have the power, whenever they choose, to take 
one thousand millions of dollars out of the pockets of the- 
American people bv charging excessive rates on freight.^* And 
the public can’t help itself. You see these* big corporations 
have no soul, but plenty of brains. They defy the law and 
ignore public opinion.” 

“ Some day there will be a terrible reckoning for all this.” 


♦Note 10. — Arbitrary changes of rates. 

fNote 11. — Arbitrary powers exercised by great corporations. 


26 




402 , AN IRON CROWN. 

“ And it will be no tea party either, I guess,” added the 
Deacon. 

“ It will not be soon, gentlemen, not very soon,” rejoined 
Mr. Bryce. 

“ The American people grin an’ bear a thing till they 
can’t stand it any longer before they do anything. They’re 
fast enough generally,” reflected the Deacon, “ but powerful 
slow on some things. When they do git started they hold a 
few meetin’s, appint some committees, and sit down to see 
what’ll happen. Then the law-breakers, ballot-box stufFers 
and big monopolists laugh in their sleeves at the fun.” 

“ You do not think, Mr. Bryce, that all railroad men are 
dishonest, do you?” asked Alice, who was now interested in 
the conversation. 

“ I don’t mean the real railroadmen at all. The engineers 
and brakemen, and all the men who work, earn every cent 
they get. Nor do I mean honest stockholders. I mean the 
rascals who have made millions by swindling both the public 
and the company whose officers they are, and whose interests 
they are in duty bound to protect,” 

“ The men,” said Tom, u who buy votes to control legis- 
latures in their favor, who wreck railroads by crooked work in 
the management, and then buy the property up for a song.” 

“ But,” continued Alice, who looked only at the exterior 
of this great question, having given it no thought, “ railroads 
are a necessity. I am sure they must do more good than 
harm.” 

“They be a necessity, of course they be. Nobody wants 
to do without ’em,” replied the Deacon, “ though I’d never 
vote ’em any more bonds if I lived a thousand years.” 

“ But the fact that they are a necessity,” said Tom, “doesn’t 
justify the arrogant, systematic extortion and disregard of right 
practiced of late years by a few great railway kings whom 
the people have made.” 

“To be sure it doesn’t,” continued Mr. Bryce. 

Nearly every great evil in this world masks itself behind 
some good; because a thing is good we should not be obliged 
to take with it a notorious wrong that has slily masked itself be- 
hind the good. Rather than let such men corrupt the politics 
of this country, and control its policy, as they now rule with 
an iron hand many of its great industries; it were better if 
every mile of railroad in this country from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, from the Gulf to the Lakes, were destroyed for- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4°3 

ever. Stage coaches and tallow candles, with political purity 
and right triumphant, are preferable to the merciless rule of 
uncrowned money kings, after they have once closed every ave- 
nue by which their victims may escape. We feel these things 
comparatively little yet, except in certain sections, because we 
have a vast domain of free land, and the people are not cramped. 
Food is cheap and labor plenty. But some day, not far dis- 
tant, we shall, if these centralizing influences of money re- 
main uncontrolled, feel the weight of an Iron Crown of steel 
rails bound by stringing wires as grievous as any ever borne 
by any people in the Middle Ages. It is coming, and we may 
as well face the music. 

At this point the discussion was interrupted by the an- 
nouncement that supper was ready. 


CHAPTER XL. 

IN WHICH TOM NORWELL CONCLUDES THAT FARM TNG IS 
NOT HIGHLY REMUNERATIVE; AND MESSRS. LEMMING 
& MIRIAM CONCOCT THEIR GREATEST MONEY-MAKING 
SCHEME. 

Things turned out precisely as Deacon Brown had figured 
it. When Norwell finished hauling his crops to town, after 
paying one-third farm rent, and Jim’s salary of eighteen dol- 
lars per month, he found, that instead of one thousand dollars 
or even the six hundred he last figured on, he had just three 
hundred dollars left. Jim thought this a big pile of money, 
and some of the neighbors, who, one year with another, per- 
haps did not save over one hundred dollars per year, congratu- 
lated Norwell on what a pile of money hejnust have made. 
The three hundred dollars would not more than pay for the 
team he had bought, and the farm implements, to say nothing 
of paying any hire for an extra team he had of Mr. Bryce 
during a large part of the summer. 

Norwell was thoroughly disheartened and disgusted with 
farming. He could have saved as much on his salary with ntr 
risk whatever, while Alice would have been much better off 
teaching without having to undergo all this drudgery. He 
consulted with her and they decided it best to quit, as he could 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4°4 

have his oid place in Chicago again, if he chose, at the begin- 
ning of the year. Alice had no advice to offer concerning the 
future. She felt herself largely responsible for their coming 
to the country. The results had not been what they hoped. 
Now she was willing to acquiesce in her brother’s wishes. 
She dreaded the influences of the grain business in Chicago, 
but there was nothing else to do apparently, and it was useless 
to make any further struggle against adverse fortune. So it 
was all settled that they should give up the farm. 

That evening Tom and Alice went over to Bryces to see 
what arrangements it would be best to make about selling the 
team. Jacob Bryce was a man known to everybody for ten 
miles around. He owned a thousand acres of land well im- 
proved and stocked. This was all the result of his own in- 
dustry and good management, aided by an unusually intelli- 
gent, faithful wife. Together they had come to this new 
country from New England, with only one hundred dollars 
all told, thirty years before. Their thrifty habits had not, 
however, made the Bryces grasping or stingy. On the con- 
trary, they were known as the most generous people in the 
country. They had only one child to inherit their property. 
Their other, a son, had shouldered his musket during the dark 
days of the war, and bidding his father, mother, and little, 
flaxen-haired sister adieu, had gone to the front, like thousands 
of others, never to return. There was now no need to pile 
up more wealth; there was ample for one. Many a poor 
man had been helped out of his difficulties and put on his legs 
by Mr. Bryce’s timely assistance. Many a needy family in 
the dead of winter received from the Bryces a sack of flour, 
a bushel of potatoes, or a u flitch” of pork. Occasionally Mr. 
Bryce was deceived in those whom he trusted. This was 
only natural, while human nature remains as it is. But he al- 
ways consoled himself with the reflection, that it is better to 
make a mistake in favor of humanity than on the other side. 
Mr. Bryce was at Prairie Grande that evening, and was un- 
usually late getting home, as the roads w T ere almost bottomless 
now in the latter part of November. Alice went to the 
kitchen, where Mrs. Bryce was at work while waiting supper 
for her husband. Tom and May had the sitting room to 
themselves. May was always delighted when Tom was near, 
as became a woman whose whole soul was possessed by a 
deep, unchanging love that amounted to devotion. 

“I looked for you last night, Tom,” she said, almost re- 


AN IRON CROWN. 405 

proachfully. cc Just think! It’s a whole week since you have 
been here.” 

U I couldn’t get away, little girl; I expected to, but the 
Smiths came over to stay till bedtime.” 

“ I’ll forgive you this time, you naughty boy, if you 
promise never to do so again.” 

“ Come, Prairie Blossom, don’t be too hard on a fellow. 
I couldn’t regulate the movements of the Smith family. But 
it could not matter a great deal whether I came last night or 
to-night. And then girls act as if they thought so much of 
their beaux, just as if they were dying for them. Don’t you 
think they play off a little sometimes?” May sat a moment 
in silence, then she answered: 
w Tom, do you love me? ” 

“ What a question, May! Haven’t I told you so a hun- 
dred times?” But he was a little uneasy. Instantly he 
thought of Chetta Ingledee, and that he was guilty of decep- 
tion. Little by little, step by step, before he realized his 
course, he had been drawn into a position which was a dis- 
credit to an honorable gentleman. He knew that this girl, 
who was ignorant of the deceptions of the great world, had 
given him her whole heart, and since he had come here to 
her home, her whole trust. It would be a most cruel act to 
deceive her. He was about on the point of making the only 
noble resolution possible under the circumstances, namely, to 
write to Chetta saying that they could only be strangers 
henceforth, and return all her letters. Though he felt that 
this girl was not the helpmeet for him which he had hoped, 
he was in honor bound to marry her, and justify her deep 
affection and boundless trust. His word, which is a gentle- 
man’s honor, was pledged. 

“ I know you have told me so. I ought not to have asked 
perhaps. Please forgive me. But I was thinking, Tom, that 
love is something sacred. As there is only one true God, so 
true love can have only one object.” She seemed to have 
read his thoughts, and he was startled. He could only reply: 
“ Yes, doubtless you are right, May.” 
u Tom,” she continued very earnestly, “ do you know, 
sometimes I think I could not live without you?” 

This remark scarcely pleased him. He could not look at 
love in any such light. It was far beyond anything he had 
ever felt, beyond his capacity for feeling. He did not believe 
in love that could not survive the deprivation of its object. 


40 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


u May,” he replied in a rather argumentative tone, “don’t 
you think you are growing a trifle sentimental? ” 

u No Tom, I mean it. I could not live without you.” 
w Pshaw! That is little short of romantic nonsense, if you 
will excuse me for speaking so plainly. We must look at 
things in a more practical light. It is not an agreeable idea, 
but then death, for example, might separate us at any time. 
Then, however hard it might be at first, the survivor, after a 
time, would find life endurable, and eventually, enjoyable. It 
might be a duty to live regardless of our own wishes.” 

But notwithstanding his own logic, Norwell felt uncom- 
fortable and tried to change the subject. In the first, place, 
this declaration of such absorbing love reflected indirectly on 
his own feelings, which were as the shallow banks of New- 
foundland to the deep soundings of the Atlantic, compared 
with hers. He did not believe in this supernal love that is 
unable to live unless constantly feeding on itself. He thought 
it was a sickly sentiment, instead of a deep emotion, and while 
he never for an instant thought his betrothed guilty of deceit, 
he thought she scarcely realized the extent of the hyperbole 
in which she was indulging. 

But May was not mistaken. This romantic country girl 
had an intellect as vigorous as his own, and of a far more 
delicate comprehension on such subjects. There was a deep 
and dreadful significance in her words, which she fully under- 
stood but could never explain to him, nor even to her own 
mother. For a long time, even before her first visit to New 
York, May Bryce had been at times shadowed by a flitting 
dread that her life would be a short one. Her mother’s 
mother had been a victim of that king of terrors, consump- 
tion. A maternal uncle had died of the same disease, and 
her parents had always spoken of it as a malady which left 
its victim no hope. As a girl, May had, at times, thought of 
the awful situation of a person doomed to this loathsome, liv- 
ing decay. Her vivid imagination had heightened the horrors 
of such a situation, if that were possible. Such a death, though 
painless, is truly dreadful. Compared with it the fate of 
Prometheus chained to the cold rocks and torn by ravenous 
birds, was almost to be envied, for his vital powers were con- 
stantly renewed by an active, life-giving principle. The 
loathsomeness of decay was spared him. Consumption and 
leprosy are twin horrors. May had carefully read excellent 
medical authorities on the subject. Her father bought such 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4°7 

books because he thought it better to read them and learn 
something about taking care of the body in trifling disorders, 
than to run for the doctor to treat every petty ailment. 

May would not cause her parents anxiety by disclosing 
fears which might be utterly groundless. Sometimes she 
laughed at those fears and thought nothing of them for 
months. But they always returned. Then she consulted the 
family physician, enjoining strict secrecy. He quieted her 
fears, but with the usual sphinx-like demeanor of the pro- 
fession, cautioned her to be careful of her health. The doc- 
tor’s opinion somewhat reassured her. She derived no con- 
solation from the commonly accepted belief that consumptive 
patients are always hopeful. It was apparently opposed to 
common sense. She saw no reason why the consumptive 
doomed to a sure death should be hopeful any more than the 
man who is bitten by a cobra, could sit and calmlv watch the 
deadly poison slowly creeping toward his heart beneath the 
skin. If this is the fault of doctors who lack the moral cour- 
rage to be candid, it is a cruel and unprofitable deception. 
May Bryce reasoned beyond this popular hallucination and 
argued that she would listen to reason rather than hope. 

But she divulged none of these thoughts to her lover. It 
was unwise to alarm him unnecessarily. The excitement of 
her visit to New York and the want of her usual, abundant 
open-air exercise had told on her health, though she was 
scarcely aware of it till it was all over, and the reaction came 
in her country home. Then Tom’s coming brought with it 
a reassurance of his continued love, and the fact that she now 
had him all to herself, free from the anxieties of any rivalry, 
made that summer one of supreme happiness to her. The 
flush of health returned to her cheeks and her morbid fears 
gradually slumbered. Thus, it was no sickly sentiment in 
May Bryce to tell her lover that he was life to her. Happi- 
ness is the mainstay of health. 

Norwell now informed May of his intention to return to 
Chicago. As Alice had already told her that their moving 
was probable, May was not surprised. She was sorry to have 
them go, but did not doubt that it was for the best. Then as 
Tom promised her that he would run out on a visit frequently 
she was satisfied with the change. She had a slight hope 
that he might ask her to name the day, but he was silent on 
that subject. 

Mr. Bryce came home finally, and the men had a long 


4 o8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


talk. Bryce kindly agreed to take Norwell’s team and im- 
plements and assume payment for them. To Norwell’s in- 
quiry as to whether he was not permitting too much in his 
friend who offered to do this, Mr. Bryce had answered: 

a Norwell, I can turn them into money eventually much 
better than you can. The horses will bring a good price in 
the spring.” 

“ Mr. Bryce, I don’t want you to lose on them.” 

“ Y ou certainly would lose by putting them on the market 
now, Mr. Norwell. We will consider that all settled.” 

So everything was arranged. The Nor wells made a sale 
and disposed of their cows, the hay and grain, and the house- 
hold goods. The poultry was sold at town and with it ended 
Alice’s great expectations in that line. Only the statesman 
was reserved. He had grown into a huge plump bird and 
had lost none of the awkwardness and naive impudence 
which first suggested his name, which from motives of deli- 
cacy has been omitted in this history. The family affection 
for him in spite of his faults, was such that it was decided not 
to expose him to the scrutiny of an unsympathizing public in 
a market place. He was slaughtered at home and formed the 
basis of a toothsome pot-pie. 

One evening near holidays Jim Cain, who no longer lived 
with the Norwells, came to spend the evening with them. A 
pleasant time was had over cider and apples. Jim had been 
a faithful hand and especially willing to help Alice at churn- 
ing, and other work when he had any spare time. Though 
he did justice to the cider and apples, Jim scarcely appeared 
to have his usual flow of good spirits. As the time ap- 
proached for him to go he seemed nervous and fidgety, a 
condition in which he had never been seen by them before. 
Norwell accompanied him to the gate as he started for home, 
and when the two were alone together the cause of the man’s 
uneasiness was soon made apparent. 

“ Mr. Norwell, I hate to ask you, I’d a heap ruther take a 
kickin’ than ask you, but could you loan me twenty-five 
dollars for awhile?” 

“ Why, what’s the matter, Jim?” exclaimed Norwell in 
surprise. “ Where are your wages? ” 

“ I’ve been a danced fool. That’s what’s the matter. I’ve 
lost a thunderin’ pile of money.” 
u Lost it! How much? ” 

“ Fifty dollars clean cash, all gone. Now I am strapped 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4°9 


and I owe my sister who lives in town, twenty-five dollars. 
They have had hard luck, and her man has been sick nearly 
all summer, and I’ve got to pay it.” 

“ But where is your money? How did you lose it? ” 

“ You remember that firm in Chicago, Lemming & 
Miriam, who advertised to invest money where it would pay 
such big returns? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Well, I dropped it there.” 

M That was such a bare-faced swindle you ought to have 
known better, Jim.” 

“ Mebbe I ought, but, Mr. Norwell, country people don’t 
know as well about these swindles as you town people. Jack 
Bundy down to Prairie Grande, had one hundred dollars in 
and it doubled itself in a month. Then he drawed out. But 
when that word got out a lot more fellers went in. I never 
got a red cent and never will now; the whole darn thing has 
gone up an’ there’s the maddest set o’ boys in town that you 
ever saw.” 

u I am very sorry, Jim; you worked too hard for your 
money to lose it that way.” 

ct So I did,” replied Jim. “I thought I’d get ahead a little 
this year, but everything goes agin me. But I must have 
the money if I can get it. I borrowed it to get clothes with 
and now I can’t see my sister’s children going without 
clothes.” 

“ All right, Jim, say no more. You shall have it.” Nor- 
well as he said this thought how little would be left by the 
time he and Alice had got finally settled in Chicago. 

u Norwell, before you give it I want to tell you I can’t 
pay you soon. I get only ten dollars per month and board, 
where I am for the winter months. I can’t pay you before 
three months.” 

“ Jim, you shall have it on those terms. I shall need it 
myself then. Be careful in the future where you put your 
money. Take no chances with such men.” 

The advertisement which had caused all this trouble, not 
only to Jim Cain, but to thousands of others, all over the 
United States, had appeared regularly in hundreds of news- 
papers, for months. It illustrates a system of financiering 
which has been tried many times heretofore under various 
guises, and doubtless will be tried many times more. Here it 
is. A perusal may repay the reader. Look out for any man 


410 


AN IKON CROWN. 


who offers one dollar’s worth for fifty cents. He is a liar, 
and will prove a thief if you give him a chance. 


INVESTMENTS. 

L EMMING & MIRIAM. — Dealers in stocks, 
bonds, and all kinds of securities. Members of 
the Chicago Grain Exchange. Money placed for in- 
vestment in our FUND W makes sometimes as high 
as 500 per cent, a month. We guarantee fifty per 
cent, per month. Returns made monthly in cash, or 
profits reinvested on the same plan at investor’s op- 
tion. We have perfected a system of operating 
whereby all moneys are being turned over daily, thus 
securing enormous profits in consequence of our 
superior facilities for taking advantage of the fluctu- 
ations of the market. Thousands are now investing 
in FUND W, which promises to be one of the most 
successful methods of money-making that we have 
ever tried. Any sum from five dollars upward, may 
be placed in FUND W for investment, thus giving 
the poor a chance to reap golden returns along with 
the rich. Address, Lemming & Miriam, 10 Corn 
Exchange Place, Chicago, 111 . 

It would seem at first sight that no person with a modicum 
of common sense could be entrapped by so bare-faced a swin- 
dle, however cunningly it may have been worded. But 
human credulity is as boundless as the ocean. When coupled 
with avarice, which is still more universal and powerful, the 
two combined produce a degree of gullibility almost beyond 
belief. Lemming & Miriam did not lie when they said thou- 
sands were investing in FUND W. And when they added 
with a delightful naivete that no such method of money- 
making had yet been tried by them, they told a striking truth 
if the statement was properly interpreted. It was the best 
scheme for them that they had ever tried. 

It was estimated that the receipts from the FUND W. 
swindle for a few months were at least three-quarters of a 
million dollars, possibly a million. This enterprising firm 
also told the truth when they stated that it gave the poor 
man a chance with the rich. The legal proceedings during 
the trial of Lemming & Miriam on the charge of employ- 
ing the United States mails for fraudulent purposes, devel- 
oped the fact that investments ranged from the smallest sum 
receivable up to forty thousand dollars in the case of one 
victim. The first investor in a town usually received a hand- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 1 1 


some cash dividend, which was paid out of the daily receipts 
from investors. No pretense was made of investing the 
money in any way. Such was the infatuation of the public 
that, incredible as it may appear, letters stamped “ fraudu- 
lent” by the postoffice of Chicago and returned to the 
writers, were at once rfemailed to Lemming & Miriam. Some 
of their dupes even promised to back the swindlers in their 
contest with the government. When an enormous sum of 
money had accumulated and it was evident that the scheme 
would not work much longer, owing to frequent complaints 
received by the police authorities and daily papers, Lemming 
& Miriam sent out circulars to all their customers saying that 
they had made heavy investments which unfortunately had 
turned out badly and that the money in consequence was 
all lost. 

For this scoundrelly and unparalleled swindle Lemming 
& Miriam were sentenced to pay a nominal fine and to one 
year’s imprisonment in the county jail. After a few months’ 
confinement, during which their friends were allowed to 
furnish them every luxury that money would procure, these 
two scoundrels were pardoned by the President of the United 
States, who doubtless was ignorant of the main facts. He could 
only judge from the representations of friends of the prisoners, 
and from the recommendation of the United States district 
judge of the district in which the trial occurred. This 
Judge’s recommendation was, according to the statements of 
the press, informal, not being indorsed by the United States 
Attorney who prosecuted the case, as was customary. It 
was based, we will charitably suppose, on a mistaken notion 
of clemency on the part of the judge. Great was the indig- 
nation of the respectable people of Chicago and the country 
at large. There was good reason for believing that a ring 
of disreputable politicians managed the whole business of 
procuring the pardon for political purposes, and that citizens 
of Chicago of wealth and apparent respectability worked 
actively for Lemming & Miriam, because they had been or 
were at that time engaged in similar disreputable schemes. 

Have not Americans cause to blush for all this? When 
judges and the highest officials of the land are so indifferent 
to the public welfare as to turn such dangerous criminals free 
upon an unprotected community, is it not time to inquire 
whether there is not something very rotten in the machinery 
of State? Judges should remember that they are not elected 


412 


AN IRON CROWN. 


to hear lawyers wrangle for weeks over hair-splitting legal 
quibbles; nor are they placed on the bench to seek diligently 
for knot holes through which criminals may escape justice. 
The bench should not forget that the community may need 
protection just as urgently as the prisoner. It is a safe prin- 
ciple of law that where any doubt exists as to the guilt of a 
prisoner, the accused shall have the benefit of the doubt. 
When only a legal technicality is at issue and the guilt of the 
prisoner is notorious and beyond question, why not let the 
community have the benefit of the doubt? 

To the foreigner, if perchance any such may peruse these 
pages, it may seem as if a large majority of the American 
people were fools, and the remainder knaves. Let him not 
be too hasty in his judgment. America is a land of oppor- 
tunities. In Europe the poor expect to remain poor. It is 
their hard lot from which there is no escape. In America, 
scarcely any man may be found who does not hope to better 
his condition. This restless activity and universal opportunity 
must in the very nature of things be taken advantage of by 
the dishonest to ply their swindling schemes. While specu- 
lative gambling is only too common it is not yet a national 
vice. Swindles abound while the American people remain 
honest but supine. 

But can we long remain honest and by our silence virtu- 
ally sanction dishonesty? u Evil communications corrupt 
good manners.” Has American honor sunk so low that it 
is satisfied to consort with roguery, peculation and down- 
right robbery? National hoftor is national life, and the people 
who are willing to give up their good name are on the high 
road to national extinction. Shall the examples of Persia, 
Greece, Rome, Carthage and the Saracenic Empire be lost in 
the light of the nineteenth century ? 


CHAPTER XLI. 

WHICH CONTAINS BOTH GOOD AND BAD REPORT OF FA- 
MILIAR FRIENDS. LUCK VS. LOVE. THERE IS NOTH- 

ING NEW IN LUCK, NOTHING NEW IN LOVE. 

The Norwells returned to Chicago. Alice took her old 
place in the Young Ladies’ school, and Tom resumed his 
clerkship with the grain commission firm. They both soon 
settled down into their accustomed daily routine and all went 
well. They attended regularly a prominent church on the 
W est Side, and had no difficulty in forming numerous pleas- 
ant acquaintances. In this respect Chicago is perhaps more 
distinctively democratic than any other metropolis in the 
world. She has as yet no aristocracy of wealth or tradition. 
Doubtless in time she will have both, especially the former, 
which is already rapidly building a social rampart of money 
bags. At present respectability is the only password re- 
quired to admit strangers into the homes of a majority of 
the best people. May it ever remain so, for the two most 
universal lines of caste distinction, blood and money, are both 
based on absurdly false principles. Any rusty old vessel will 
hold blue blood, and any fool can jingle the eagles that have 
been placed in his pockets. 

The Norwells made many good friends of the quieter 
sort, and the winter passed very pleasantly. Both brother 
and sister felt more than they showed, the difficulty experi- 
enced by those who have been rich, in adjusting their expend- 
itures to a small income. A great city affords many op- 
portunities for making money to those who know how, but 
for each way of acquiring there are ten ways of spending. 
Both firmly resolved to save something, but they no longer 
saved in common. In fact, there were now few confidences 
between them. Both felt that on certain points they could 
never agree. Alice could not coincide in her brother’s false 
views concerning the acquisition of wealth. Far better hon- 
est poverty than dishonest wealth, she told him. She disap- 
proved of his reckless speculative mania and of his manage- 

(4 I 3) 


4H 


AN IRON CROWN. 


ment of his love affairs. But she sensibly realized the use- 
lessness of continuing- a losing struggle with him, which 
could result only in complete alienation. 

It was not strange that this brother and sister disagreed. 
Although the ties of relationship were so close, two persons 
could scarcely have been more different in character. The 
brother was frank, generous and good-natured as a rule, but 
inclined to be stubborn, where he fancied his own peculiar 
rights were invaded, as easy-going people often are. The 
sister was more reserved with the mass of her acquaintance. 
She made friends more reluctantly, but made them to keep. 
She was kind-hearted but of quicker temper, and was ready 
to yield a point instantly when she saw she was wrong. Her 
delicate perceptions of right and wrong were much finer than 
his. She weighed carefully her thoughts and actions and 
instantly retraced a course as soon as she saw it might pos- 
sibly lead in the wrong direction. He, on the contrary, tem- 
porized when he should have taken a decided stand. He did 
this partly because he lacked the moral courage to face con- 
sequences, and partly because his less acute perceptions of 
right and wrong often failed to place things in their proper 
light with relation to duty. Notably this was true of his 
correspondence with Chetta Ingledee while engaged to May 
Bryce. Nothing was further from his purposes than to de- 
ceive either of these women, and yet his careless good nature 
had allowed him to drift into a false position which threatened 
the most serious consequences to all concerned. Alice clearly 
saw this with a dread that amounted almost to horror. He 
failed to realize it fully because he allowed his mind to drift 
away from consequences, trusting that somehow all would be 
well in the end. 

The long, severe winter passed into the usual chilling 
spring weather when the great refrigerator, Lake Michigan, 
for days and weeks steadily pours a current of cold air over 
the city, with brief interruptions of warm winds from the 
south, that only makes the succeeding cold more disagreeable. 
Norwell, by careful economy and by collecting a few little 
odd sums still due him in New York and at Prairie Grande, 
had got together five hundred dollars in clean cash. He had 
not told Alice about this money nor did he reveal his plans, 
for he knew that she would oppose them. A business de- 
pression which had lasted for some time was thought to be 
at an end. A general activity began to prevail in all depart- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


H5 


ments of commerce and manufacturing. Norwell thought 
this was his long hoped for opportunity to make money. 
Wheat had for months been fluctuating in the neighborhood 
of eighty cents per bushel. One morning, as Norwell and 
Wylie were going down town on a Madison street car, the 
former broached the subject uppermost in his mind. 

“ Wylie, what do you think of wheat?” 

“ I think it offers a first-rate chance for investment, but I 
never take any of these chances. When I entered the office 
I made a solemn resolution never to speculate under any 
circumstances. I have kept my word. I have seen hundreds 
of men go in confidently and lose every cent they put in.” 

“ But some make large sums.” 

“ For a time, but they all come out the same way sooner 
or later.” 

u I’m going to risk a little deal in wheat, any way.” 

“ Every man to his notion, Norwell. But if I were you 
I should not risk much.” 

Tom Norwell never did anything by halves, and his very 
audacity now proved to be his fortune. With his five hun- 
dred dollars he bought fifty thousand bushels of wheat on a 
margin of one cent per bushel. At the close of business that 
day wheat had risen one cent, and his profits were five hun- 
dred dollars. On the second day he closed the deal with a 
profit of one thousand dollars, and immediately invested the 
fifteen hundred dollars again, buying one hundred and fifty 
thousand bushels. The long expected advance had set in. 
Wheat climbed steadily day by day. Occasionally it fell back 
for a day or two only to rally to a still higher point. For 
days together Norwell’s profits were fifteen hundred dollars 
and occasionally three thousand dollars per day. He grew 
cheerful again. His spirits rose, and his old-time vivacity 
became habitual. He confided his great luck to Wylie. He 
felt so good over it that he must tell some one. But he did 
not tell his sister. The old-time confidences between them 
were no more. She noticed that he was unusually cheerful 
and guessed that perhaps he had made something, for she 
heard from friends how the lucky ones were raking in the 
dollars on the Board of Trade. She expected, of course, 
that he would lose it all again, and despaired of ever seeing 
her brother freed from this terrible gambling mania which had 
possessed him, and threatened to extinguish all his better 
qualities and ruin him forever. 


416 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Wheat continued to advance slowly. When Norwell’s 
profits had mounted away into the thousands Wylie advised 
him to sell. But it was the universal opinion that wheat 
would touch a dollar and a quarter before it stopped. When 
it reached one eighteen Nor well closed his deal and drew out 
after paying all commissions, fifty thousand dollars in cash. 
He felt as if an unbearable weight had suddenly been re- 
moved from his shoulders. He had, when the advance 
v became so persistent, determined to wait till he made fifty 
thousand, and as his profits swelled toward that figure the 
strain on his mind became intense. Do as he would he 
could not conceal it from Alice. She wondered what could 
be the cause of this sudden change in him. She knew that 
the total he had to invest must be very small, and its loss need 
not prove so great a source of anxiety. She little knew the 
great pressure he was enduring, and largely for her sake. 
During the last ten days wheat rose only four cents in the 
whole time, and Norwell, to conceal his anxiety as much as 
possible, staid down town evenings under pretense of work- 
ing at the office. 

But now the terrible strain was over, and he possessed a 
sum which most men would call a fortune. With almost 
frantic eagerness he clutched the precious check and hurried 
off to deposit it in the bank before the hour for clearing. His 
fingers trembled so that his indorsement was scarcely legible, 
and the bank teller, who knew him well, remarked his excite- 
ment, and on seeing the check guessed its cause. 

“ In luck, Norwell?” he said quietly. 

u Yes, great luck.” 

Norwell opened an account with the bank and got a 
check book. That afternoon just before leaving the office he 
drew a check for twenty-five thousand dollars payable to 
Alice Norwell. He would have added* interest, but he well 
knew that she would not accept it. That evening as they 
met at their boarding house she thought he acted strangely. 
He seemed in unusually good spirits and talked a great deal, 
but his light remarks were incoherent and in contrast to his 
usual mood lately. At length, with a voice that showed a 
tremor, though he did his best to control it, he began 
abruptly : 

“ Alice, you owe your poverty to me.” 

“ Brother, we agreed long ago to say no more about 
that.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 T 7 


u But I will say something about it. I took your money. 
You called it theft. That was right, but I said you would 
be sorry for it sometime. Will this wipe away the stain of 
theft?” Then he handed her the envelope containing the 
check. With eager fingers she tore it open and read the 
amount. 

“ Oh, Tom, Tom!” she exclaimed, with tears springing 
to her eyes, “I would rather lose every dollar I ever had than 
have you speak so. Can’t you forgive that hasty word?” 

“ As I said, you spoke only the truth. I have tried to 
make all the reparation possible.” 

“ Brother, you have been true and kind, only say you 
will forgive me.” 

“Alice, don’t ask forgiveness of me. It is I who should 
beg your pardon for causing you so much deprivation.” 

“ Tom, say no more about hardships. God gives us 
duties, and we must perform them.” 

“Now, do you disapprove of my operating in grain?” he 
asked, in a tone of triumph. 

“Tom,” she replied, after hesitating a moment, “ I cannot 
change my opinion.” 

“ But you will keep the money?” She was silent. The 
right and wrong of some questions are beyond human ken. 

His tone was pleasant, but she felt that his restitution 
could not restore the affection of the old days. There were 
too many causes of difference, and that was gone forever. 
He could not forgive her for being his superior in these mat- 
ters of abstract right and practical patient endurance under 
trials. It wounded his pride and impeached his judgment, 
which he thought was superior in a man; moreover woman 
should recognize the fact. The very course which she had 
always condemned had at last brought him through safely. 
In his triumph he had forgotten to be generous. Even with 
the subject on his lips he did not realize all she had endured 
for him, and all she was willing to endure. He went on: 

“ Alice, I wish you would invest your money in your 
own way. I do not care to be intrusted with any responsi- 
bility concerning it. It has been only a bitter curse to me.” 
“ V ery well, Tom. I will do as you wish. It shall cause 
you no trouble.” 

For a time Alice Norwell was very unhappy over this 
estrangement. They went along just as before, and the world 
was not aware of this trouble between them. But it was 


2 7 


418 


AN IRON CROWN. 


only the semblance of affection such as prevails in thousands 
of so-called happy homes. One deep, never-failing source of 
joy remained to her. Arthur Wilson was soon expected 
back from the West, and most likely the time was not far 
distant when, as his wife, Alice would be the happy possessor 
of a home of her own. Wilson had sold his interest in the 
Amazon. The branch of the Cobweb Line had been built 
to Ruby Buttes as projected. This great railway system had 
received a land grant from Congress, as did nearly all roads 
projected at that particular time. Guileless Congressmen had 
voted extraordinary inducements to the Cobweb, under the 
impression that they were aiding a road that would compete 
with the rapacious Midland Pacific, .whose extortion had 
become well-nigh unbearable on the Pacific Coast. But as 
the projectors of the new road were really Henry Ingledee 
and his little clique of partners, who also owned the Midland 
Pacific, it was difficult for any one informed as to the facts, to 
see how competition would arise from any such combination. 
It looked more like fitting out the octopus with another long 
arm to drag in a few more victims. 

Mining property rapidly advanced in value in anticipa- 
tion of the greatly reduced cost of working the mines, and 
transporting ores to smelting centers, where they could be 
worked at a much greater profit. The Cobweb had a 
severe contest with a rival line for the possession of the cele- 
brated Devil’s Claw Canyon, through which mighty rent in 
the mountains there was room for only a single track. The 
militia were called out and some blood shed, but the Cob- 
web won, and held the canyon. All rivals were thus ex- 
eluded from this region. 

When the schedule of rates was announced it was found 
that freight on ores was so excessive that the railroad com- 
pany absorbed most of the extra profits which otherwise 
would have followed from a reasonable tariff.* The principal 
mine owners protested, but in vain. A committee was ap- 
pointed to confer with the officers of the road, and see 
whether lower rates could be obtained. Wilson was chair- 
man of this committee. In that capacity he wrote to the 
Honorable Sanford Landis, at San Francisco, who was Presi- 
dent of the Midland and Cobweb routes. He received in 
due time a reply, in which the Honorable gentleman referred 


*Note 12. — The Mining Industry. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 J 9 

to, laid down the startling proposition that common carriers 
were private enterprises, and that their owners had as much 
right to charge what they pleased for services, as did the 
owner of a store to set a price on his goods. Further, this 
Honorable logician held that the true criterion by which all 
rates should be regulated was “ what the traffic would bear .’ 5 

Has this country ever before witnessed a like exhibition of 
brazen impudence, considering that this Honorable railroad 
officer was President of a system of lines, large portions of 
which had been built by the government, expressly to obtain 
cheap transportation for the people? Can rapacity go any 
farther, short of confiscation? Nay more, these logic-loving' 
railway thieves compel merchants to exhibit their books and 
disclose profits, in order that a soulless corporation may know 
just what the traffic will bear.* No monarch in Europe, not 
excepting the Czar of Russia, dare go half so far. 

In consequence of this announcement of' the policy of the 
railway company, mining property fell to the old figures which 
it commanded when the ore was smelted by a wasteful pro- 
cess at home, for want of suitable ores to mix and facilitate 
the fluxing, and when all provisions were hauled in and bul- 
lion hauled out by wagon. Wilson and his partners sold for 
two and a half millions, a mine that would elsewhere under 
competitive rates, easily have brought five millions. With a 
fortune at command he determined to settle in the East, and 
enjoy the fruits of his successful venture. 

Wilson spent a few weeks visiting with the Nor wells. It 
was arranged that his marriage with Alice should not take 
place till a few months later. Tom Norwell, since his lucky 
deal in wheat, had thought of Returning to New York, where 
his extensive acquaintance would probably enable him eventu- 
ally to enter into business arrangements, which he could not 
hope to make among strangers. He wisely determined to 
hold on to the little he had rather than risk it in uncertain 
ventures. After considerable discussion of the matter, the 
Norwells finally decided to go East at once with Wilson. 

Tom Norwell had, meantime, continued his correspond- 
ence with both Chetta Ingledee and May Bryce, and had 
visited the latter two or three times since leaving the farm. 
Instead of adhering to his resolution to cut short his cor- 
respondence with Chetta, he had weakly allowed it to go on. 


♦Note 13. — Stand and deliver. 


420 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Her letters constantly grew more confidential. His were 
friendly and non-committal. The tone of hers plainly in- 
dicated that the writer presumed on the fact that she and her 
correspondent were acknowledged lovers. He seldom gave 
the matter the consideration it demanded, because both 
women were at a distance, and their letters, though in the 
same pocket, could not quarrel. Lately he had hit on the 
idea of letting matters drift along till he returned to New 
York. Then of course he should cease correspondence with 
Chetta, and would find a means of withdrawing himself 
from her society. But the young lady herself upset all his 
plans, and he soon realized that he was in a most uncomfort- 
able fix. This passionate, spirited woman had always loved 
this man. Now that she had, as she believed, a real hold on 
his affections, she would die sooner than surrender him to 
another woman. She loved Tom Norwell, she had always 
loved him, and now she believed that he loved her. When it 
came to the test he lacked the courage to disabuse her mind 
of its illusion, and confess to her his weakness and baseness. 

Norwell still would not admit to himself that he was 
anything but an old friend of Chetta Ingledee. He never 
really thought of breaking faith with May. Her beauties of 
person and character, and her unaffected simplicity of manner 
still charmed him, as they had at first won his heart. He 
had acknowledged long ago that she was not suitable for a 
wife for him. He wished that she had a little more of that 
peculiar practical discrimination of persons and things, which 
some people can never acquire, no matter how great their ex- 
perience. He should have liked if her innocent simplicity 
had not been accompanied by so large a portion of credulity, 
for May, judging others by herself, trusted implicitly anyone 
in whom she once placed confidence. He would positively 
have liked her better if she could have followed her first 
thought of Chetta Ingledee to its conclusion, and have dis- 
covered his own unintentional but cowardly dilly-dallying. 
Possibly he would have liked her better had she been jealous, 
and had spoken her mind plainly. Still he would marry her, 
come what may, as soon as he was established in business and 
had an assured income. 

Tom went out to Prairie Grande for a short visit before 
going East. He told the Bryces of his recent good fortune, 
and they were greatly pleased. It kindled a secret joy in 
May’s heart, for she thought that now the wedding day, which 


AN IRON CROWN. 


421 


heretofore had been a disembodied phantom that vainly sought 
a location in the calendar of time, might at last be projected 
into the visible horizon. Surely, she thought, fifty thousand 
dollars was enough for any man to begin life with, particularly 
when his wife was willing to begin it with nothing but his 
love. The two or three days of his visit went rapidly by. 
They drove in those balmy May days along the level roads 
where the grass was springing everywhere, and the osage 
hedges, with their delicate green, contrasted with the dark 
green of the older grass. Tom laughed heartily, as he re- 
called some of his own ludicrous adventures of the previous 
summer. She made him bouquets of the wild flowers, and for 
a brief time he thought he should like to abandon forever the 
smoke, dirt and worry of a great city to dwell in this capri- 
cious climate of alternate storm and sunshine. But the thought 
of farm life as he had found it instantly dispelled these fancies. 
It is a good thing to change occupations for a season, when 
discontent settles deeply into our natures. The man who 
grumbles at too much wheat bread and butter, will change 
his tune after he has lived for months on corn bread and 
pork gravy. Misfortune past is the parent of content. 

On the Sunday afternoon, which was the last day of Tom’s 
visit, the lovers sat in the yard on a bench under a great apple 
tree. The male robins flew here and there incessantly, be- 
guiling the tedious hours during which the female brooded on 
her eggs. Now they quirked and hopped, and scolded these 
intruders, as they flitted from tree to tree. The afternoon 
sun shone brightlv through the trembling leaves. A light 
breeze showered the perfumed petals down around them, and 
the rustling of the leaves stilled the senses into harmony with 
this delightful quiet Sabbath. There was nothing to mar the 
beauty of the scene. The only thing that reminded the lovers 
of the great world, was a buggy that passed down the road, 
containing also two lovers, happy like themselves. May had 
brought out some books and papers to read. Tom had read 
to her a very funny piece from the pen of a celebrated humor- 
ist. May took up a volume which chanced to be the poems 
of Coleridge. Among the books at this old farmhouse were 
a complete set of the British poets, and what is unusual in 
these days of cheap “ libraries ” and voluminous turnip-juice 
literature, they were often read. May read to him that ex- 
quisite poem beginning: 


422 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ All thoughts, all passions, all delights, 

Whatever stir this mortal frame, 

All are but ministers of love, 

And feed his sacred flame.” 

Comments were made on the literary beauties of the poem, 
and Tom remarked finally that it stated the case pretty 
strongly. 

“ But don’t you think it may be true in some cases, Tom?’’ 
“ Prairie Blossom, those things exist in the imagination of 
poets, but nowhere else, in my opinion.” 

“I think differently; I think there are people to whom 
love is just what Coleridge pictures it.” 

“ They may imagine it to be so, just as the poet did.” 

May then turned to the “Ancient Mariner,” which strange, 
weird story she had many times read. She paused at the 
allusion to the wedding feast, but Tom made no comment. 
She seized this opportunity for mentioning the subject nearest 
her heart. She disliked to speak, but if her lover would not 
she would be obliged to break the silence. When he first 
mentioned his intention of going to New York she was in de- 
spair. That would in all probability defer their marriage, 
and this easy-going lover might continue for years a lover 
before he became a husband. 

“ Tom, what if an ancient mariner should interrupt our 
wedding guests?” 

“ I’d have a policeman after him quick enough. But then 
that is impossible, May; there are no mariners out here since 
the prairie schooner is extinct.” 

“ But the sailor may come in disguise and cause delay.” 
He understood the delicate hint at once. 

“ No, dear, in due time we shall be married in spite of all 
the ancient mariners or gabbling old persons in Christendom. 
Nothing shall ever part us.” 

“Can you not see your way clear now, Tom? You have 
been lucky. Fifty thousand dollars is a fortune.” She knew 
nothing of Alice’s having received half of the money, and he 
could not disclose that humiliating secret. 

“ Fifty thousand would be a great deal of money here, but 
remember, dear girl, that we are to live in New York.” She 
almost hated the name of New York, coupled as it was, with 
his ambitious hopes. 

“How much do vou want, Tom?” 

“Not less than a hundred thousand.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 423 

“ That is a great deal of money. We may never have so 
much,” she said, rather discouraged. 

“ Never fear; we must hope. Then neither of us is grow- 
ing old yet. Really, dear, can you not wait a year or two for 
me till the way is clearer?” 

“Tom, can you doubt me? Yes, I can wait many years 
for you, though I should be happy to be with you, and help 
you make your fortune, but I will trust to your judgment and 
wait patiently.” 

“ It will not be long, I hope.” 

“ It cannot be very long.” 

Next day he bade the family adieu and returned to the 
city. With a sad heart May saw him go. A part of the light 
had gone out of her existence. Instead of the blissful happi- 
ness of the last year, she had what? — only waiting. 

The same afternoon she hitched her pony to the buggy 
and started to drive to a neighbor’s. As she passed out of 
sight behind the barn, she suddenly remembered that she had 
forgotten her driving gloves. She hitched the pony there, 
and, entering by the lane, came into the house at the back 
door. While looking for her gloves, she overheard a brief 
dialogue between her parents, which sent a chill foreboding 
to her heart. They were talking earnestly, thinking them- 
selves alone. 

“ Mary, I think you are too hard on the young man.” 

“ I tell you I have reasons for my distrust. Why does he 
not marry now that he has plenty of money? What is the 
use of this continual delay ?” 

“ Mary, there is no hurry. The young man is entitled to 
his opinion about what is best for him.” 

“Jacob, I fear he is not sincere. In my opinion there is 
another girl mixed up in the affair. What did I tell you all 
along ?” 

“ Fiddlesticks, that is all nonsense.” 

“ That is what you always say, Jacob. You have stood 
up for him all the time. But I tell you he doesn’t act like a 
man who is very deep in love.” 

“There’s a good deal of moonshine about love, Mary.” 
“May be there is, but she just adores him. Poor child, 
I’m afraid she is only making trouble for herself.” 

At first May resented this imputation on her lover. She 
stole quietly from the house, and went on her visit. But as 
she drove along, the remarks of her mother sank deeper 
and deeper. 


CHAPTER XLII. 


ARTHUR WILSON, ESQUIRE, MILLIONAIRE, VERSUS ARTHUR 

WILSON, POOR YOUNG MAN. THE SNICKERS EXHIBIT 

THE FAMILY JOSS. 

During the summer, Alice Nor well visited with some 
friends at a quiet seaside resort where Wilson and Tom 
occasionally spent a Sunday with her, or made various short 
pleasure excursions of their own planning. Autumn came, 
and with it the gay thousands who had been spending the 
heated term at the summer resorts. Society was getting 
ready to undergo another season with all the scheming, 
rivalry, triumphs, and disappointments which, if not cut up 
into u seasons,” would doubtless extinguish utterly the fashion- 
able machinery. Norwell and his sister, who had heretofore 
through all their misfortunes and poverty, succeeded in main- 
taining a home by keeping up the tender domestic ties of 
childhood, now concluded to separate. It was his plan. He 
gave as a reason that cheaper lodgings could be obtained in 
that way than by hiring enough rooms to maintain their old 
style of living. This was true, but Alice saw plainly that 
economy was not the real cause of his wish to be free from 
her. She made no objection, though she felt that now indeed 
the most sacred ties, hallowed by time and affection, were 
severed never more to be resumed. Unavailing regrets were 
useless. Families must break up sometime finally, and the 
time had come with theirs. She was grieved at the manner of 
their separation. She had once hoped that her brother could 
always be to her what he had been in their childhood days. 
But that could never be again, and she consented readily to 
his proposition. As Alice had been absent from New York 
for a year or more, her engagement with Arthur Wilson was 
not generally known, and they decided to make no formal 
announcement of the fact. 

Wilson’s wealth made him an object to society. The dif- 
ference between Arthur Wilson, a poor young man seeking 
employment, and Mr. Wilson the millionaire, was as great as 

( 4 2 4 ) 


r 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 2 5 


the distance from the zenith to the nadir. When stylish 
people were introduced to Arthur Wilson, the plainly dressed 
young man from the country, he was greeted with a polite 
bow, and at most a few minutes’ careless conversation. Next 
day the same people, as a rule, did not know him at all if they 
met him by chance. Occasionally some old-fashioned lady or 
gentleman, who was pretty well through with the nonsense 
of this life, or some very plain young lady, who was obliged 
to be agreeable, found Wilson a very congenial acquaintance. 
But, on the whole, a little circle of oblivion surrounded him 
that annihilated any feeling of sociability in himself. He was 
in the condition of the man who tries to warm himself at the 
phosphorescent glow of decaying wood, imagining it to be 
real fire. It is a pretty sentiment that ascribes to modest 
merit its unfailing reward. On the whole, it does credit to 
the human race, and is an evidence that people’s intentions 
are good. But it is a noticeable fact, that the merit which 
meets with the biggest reward is that which is possessed of a 
good-sized trumpet on which it discreet^ toots from time to 
time. If this useful piece of furniture is of gold and silver, 
a kind public will volunteer to do the tooting — for a 
consideration. 

Toward Arthur Wilson, millionaire, all this was' changed. 
He was pointed out as the wealthy Colorado miner, and his 
million several times multiplied. Strange to relate, people 
seemed to have better memories than formerly. Persons who 
had been introduced to him in the bustle of a great crowd, 
with time for only the shortest greetings, could remember him 
a month afterward, and were ready to take the first steps in 
subsequent recognition. Mammas with marriageable daugh- 
ters thought him a most excellent young man, whose acquain- 
tance was greatly to be desired. Beautiful young ladies in 
ravishing toilets sought introductions, made themselves most 
agreeable, and invited him to call on the shortest possible 
acquaintance permitted by the canons of etiquette. If 
perchance, he met these same ladies on the street, they 
invariably recognized him. He was no more brilliant than 
he had been. Association with rustlers, gamblers, and 
greasers had not improved his manners greatly. He had no 
thrilling tales of border warfare to tell. He had never set 
up in his life for a wit, and if he had, his reputation would 
not have been greatly enhanced by a protracted diet of Mis- 
souri bacon and Boston baked beans. Just now it is fashion- 


426 


AN IRON CROWN. 


able with certain iconoclasts to go round exploding old 
notions to which clings the reverence usually attached to 
antiquity, especially the humbug part of antiquity. Now I 
wish to practice with a “44” for a few moments on the absurd 
notion that beans are necessarily an intellect-producing article 
of diet. I am aware that they are freely partaken of, appar- 
ently without disastrous consequences, in one of the most in- 
tellectual centers of the world. But the good effects observed 
in that locality ‘must be attributed to the atmosphere, or to 
some other undiscovered cause, for it is an incontestable fact 
that elsewhere a diet of pork and beans does not produce the 
same desirable results. 

Wilson felt ill at ease in all this glitter to which he had 
not been accustomed. He thought it a waste of time to win- 
now social chaff for an entire evening to get a few grains of 
shriveled wheat. Yet all that Arthur Wilson, millionaire, 
said or did was approved by society, and duly stamped with 
the official seal of Mrs. Grundy. 

Another person, whose history is linked with this story, 
is visiting in New York during the winter. May Bryce had 
thought much over the disagreeable possibilities implied in 
the remark which she had accidentally overhead as it fell from 
her mother’s lips that afternoon in her Illinois home. Could 
her lover be untrue? No, he had explained satisfactorily his 
reasons for not marrying. Her mother knew nothing of this, 
or she would have thought differently. But that allusion to 
another young lady in the case, troubled May, struggle as she 
might against it. Little by little she lost her elasticity of 
spirits, and was less inclined to drive out to visit the neighbors, 
as was her custom. She grew thinner, and complained fre- 
quently of being tired. On being questioned, she answered 
that she was perfectly well. Letters came regularly from her 
lover, and the parents were at a loss to account for the change. 
Mrs. Bryce thought that her daughter’s former visit to the 
city had caused the same symptoms, but now they had 
returned amidst the quiet duties of farm life. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bryce finally decided that a change would benefit May, and, 
as the winters on the prairies were very severe, it was decided 
to allow her to visit her aunt in the East, with the injunction 
that she must not spend so much time in the city. Mrs. 
Bryce wrote her sister the facts in the case, and asked her to 
be particularly careful of the charge intrusted to her care. 

Alice and May were now on the best of terms. Alice 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 2 7 


had for a long time felt that her brother was not treating May 
right. She sincerely loved this country lass, and determined, 
so far as in her lay, to make amends for him, if that were 
possible, by kindness on her own part. Finally, she came to 
the conclusion that this love affair had not gone so far as she 
suspected. But as Tom unfailingly called when May -was 
there, Alice knew that there must be collusion between them. 
Then she arrived at a conclusion frequently reached by 
interested female relatives on similar occasions; she would 
break off the relations between the lovers, if that were pos- 
sible, because as things were going now there was only 
misery in store for them both. She hinted to May that, per- 
haps, certain traits of her brother would sometime render his 
character unsteady. She felt guilty in thus speaking against 
Tom, but a consciousness of an upright motive sustained her 
in doing it. But May received the communication with 
such bad grace, and, moreover, seemed so distressed by it, 
that Alice at once guessed the whole truth, and then there 
was only love in her heart, and sympathy for her unhappy 
friend. 

One evening, as the two women sat in Alice’s cosy room 
before the cheerful grate fire, Mary Hackett called. Mary 
had kept up her acquaintance with Alice. Tom Norwell 
still called on Mary and Aunt Rhoda occasionally, but not so 
often as formerly. Mary was now neatly dressed, and looked 
unusually well. She had lately been made forewoman in the 
pamphlet department at the bindery, and received a salary of 
twenty dollars per week, on which she and Aunt Rhoda, with 
the little income they already possessed, managed to live very 
comfortably. Presently, a knock was heard at the door, and 
Tom Norwell greeted his sister as she opened it. 

Norwell chatted and jested in his usual lively vein. He 
tried to divide his attentions as best he could between May 
and Mary Hackett. The observant eye of the latter, how- 
ever, carefully studied the situation. She saw that while 
Tom Norwell was studiously trying to entertain everybody, 
he was really thinking of Miss Bryce. A half hour was 
pleasantly passed in conversation, and Mary rose to go. 
Tom insisted on seeing her home, and would hear no refusal. 
When they arrived at Mary’s home, Tom declined to go in, 
though it was not late and he knew Aunt Rhoda would be 
glad to see him. He bade Mary good-night and passed down 
the ricketty stairway. Aunt Rhoda met her at the door. 


428 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Mary, who was that with you?” 

“ Mr. Norwell.” 

u Why couldn’t he come in?” asked the old lady rather 
sharply. 

“ I don’t know, Aunt. I asked him in.” 
u I don’t like his slippin’ round that way. I like to see 
folks above board in sich doin’s.” 

“ What do you mean, Auntie?” 

u Oh, land sakes, you know what I mean. If John was 
alive he wouldn’t allow you to go gallivantin’ round with 
young men that can’t show their faces.” 

u Auntie,” said Mary, with dignity, “ Mr. Norwell is a 
gentleman. He came only because he would not allow me 
to come home alone. I don’t think you have a right to 
speak that way.” Mary now burst into tears. 

“ Land sakes, child,” said Aunt Rhoda, more kindly, 
“ don’t take on that way. I meant no harm, but I know 
young folks need a little advice now and then'.” 

Mary had not heard the last of Aunt Rhoda’s speech. 
She had gone into the little bedroom, and flinging herself on 
the bed, had burst into a passionate flood of bitter tears. Tom 
Norwell had been to her the ideal of manly beauty and 
manly virtues. She had admired him from a child, though 
she realized how far he was above her and the uselessness of 
her thinking of him more than as a friend. Even that she 
knew was a condescension on his part. She had never 
regarded him in any other light. His great kindness to her 
brother had made her friendship and gratitude for him as 
firm, as deep, and as lasting, as such a feeling can exist. She 
would have made any sacrifice to aid him in trouble. Now, 
when she had seen the beauty of this Prairie Flower of 
whom she had heard, Mary Hackett realized that another 
had come forever between her and Tom Norwell, and that 
she loved him, deeply, passionately, with a love she could 
never forget. She knew well that even without a rival such 
love must be hopeless. She could have endured this, but to 
have Aunt Rhoda blunder on her secret, which had been a 
secret even to herself, and to hear her censure Norwell, who 
was as innocent in the matter as an angel of light, was more 
than woman’s nature could endure. She shed scalding tears 
of bitter, comfortless despair, while Aunt Rhoda, all uncon- 
scious of the misery she had caused, sat industriously plying 
her needle in the little sitting room. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 2 9 

The social top was now spinning at its dizziest rate. Miss 
Harrie Snicker had concluded as a mere interlude to more 
important events to give a small, select card party. Miss 
Harrie, having with difficulty consoled herself after Gar- 
mand’s sudden disappearance, was casting her eye about for 
other masculine subjects to practice her little arts upon, 
which to her surprise did not as a rule prove so powerful as 
she anticipated. Miss Snicker was fully possessed with the 
idea that her charms were by no means common. Had she 
not associated with them for years intimately? And a 
Snicker would not associate with anything common. Hence 
she was always at a loss to discover why the young men of 
her set failed to recognize in them something uncommon. 
Meantime Mr. Bradley had worshiped at a distance, and in 
proximity when the paternal vigilance was relaxed. 

Miss Snicker had lately acquired a new accomplishment. 
To speak French was the very latest absurdity of high society, 
and now vivisection of the Gallic tongue might be wit- 
nessed in almost every fashionable assemblage. The Anglo- 
Saxon, with its rugged phrase, no longer sufficed to express 
the strivings of the “ utter” aristocracy after the unreachable. 
Conversation was carried on d’une maniere exquise, and to 
Miss Snicker’s mind this was comme il faut, which she 
rendered in a tripping enunciation as u kummil faw.” The 
French of Fifth avenue was on a higher plane than the 
French of the boulevards of Paris. In fact, natives of 
France had been known to acknowledge its superiority in the 
necessity of resorting to English as a medium of communi- 
cation, thus pleading guilty to a lamentable ignorance of the 
niceties of their own tongue. Miss Snicker had remarked on 
this tendency in foreigners and observed to an astonished Gaul 
that it was not u kummil faw. N’est ce pas?” she continued, 
pronouncing the phrase naisy faw, “ Mademoiselle de 
Snicker, you speaks ze Francais parfaitement, but* I prefair 
ze Inglees? ” 

a Indeed! Well, I don’t care much about it now. It is 
getting unfamiliar. Voila toot. Adieu, Munseer.” 

Miss Harrie, assisted by a dear friend in that most per- 
plexing of all tasks, revising her list (for invitation lists, like 
school books, must be constantly revised up to date), sud- 
denly remembered that she had an acquaintance with Arthur 
Wilson. He was added to the list. 

There was an ill-defined rumor current to the effect that 


43 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Tom Norwell had made a fortune in Chicago. Until it re- 
ceived definite corroboration or contradiction, Miss Snicker 
generously consented to a suspension of judgment in the case 
of the Norwells, and gave them the benefit of the doubt before 
pronouncing them too “ common ” to swim in the highly 
rarefied stratum of social culture in which the Snicker family 
serenely floated. She was somewhat confirmed in this deci- 
sion by the fact that her powerful friend, Miss Ingledee, had 
once or twice very promptly resented a fling at the Norwells. 

Miss Snicker’s card party was a success. At any rate, the 
refreshments, by Del Mundo, were simply exquisite. That 
was the chief thing to begin on. Then the outre tones of Miss 
Harrie’s zebra-streaked, flower-bespangled, yellow dress com- 
pensated amply for the very negative tints of her features and 
personality. The “Old Commoner” assisted in entertaining 
with a great deal of pompous fussiness. He was here and 
there doing the agreeable, on strictly business principles. His 
shirt which was as stiff as a board, his glossy high collar which 
chafed a scarlet line beneath his smooth fat jaw, his broad- 
cloth coat that strove to compress his ample figure, and his 
massive gold watch and chain, together with his brusque pay- 
as-you-go air, all seemed to say plainly, “ I am doing this 
genteelly, as becomes a man who scooped a million out of 
sugar.” Strange to say he never alluded during the entire 
evening to that famous saccharine feat. After having heard 
it mentioned several thousand times, it finally began to dawn 
upon Mrs. and Miss Snicker that perhaps the public might 
be losing interest in the subject, and would welcome a change 
in the conversational key note. Straightway Miss Snicker be- 
gan the arduous task of readjusting the paternal colloquial 
machinery: “Now, Pa, please don’t mention that horrid 

sugar again. You know everybody has heard of it a dozen 
times.” 

Mr. Fred Snicker was a thing of high, very high art. His 
clothes fitted him, as the bullet fits the copper sheath of the 
cartridge. A little joining paste might have given rise to the 
illusion that they grew there. As to how he ever got into 
them, or expected to get out again, — well, let the veil of pri- 
vacy conceal such a distressing problem. His collar, which 
was one story higher than the parental neck protector, was 
surreptitiously, with remorseless edge, sawing off his ears. 
The only hope for these conspicuous organs was that the style 
would change before the bloody deed was accomplished. 


I 


AN IRON CROWN. 43 1 

This formidable linen fortification concealed a neck that 
sorely needed shielding from the gaze of a heartless world, 
and partially did the same for the over-ambitious lower jaw 
that once upon a time had vainly attempted to swallow the 
modest, unoffending chin. The latter feature had barely 
escaped complete destruction from this ruthless incursion of 
its aggressive neighbor. Now it timidly posed as best it 
could, wholly exposed to view, a type of unprotected inno- 
cence. Mr. Fred Snicker’s mustache had made material ad- 
vancement since we last saw him. It was, in fact, now 
plainly visible to the naked eye across a room when the light 
was good and the perspective favorable. The observer’s at- 
tention needed to be stimulated, however, to secure favorable 
results, just as a long blue line in the horizon, which we took 
at a casual glance to be a part of the sky, proves on closer in- 
spection to be water. The florist had also done his duty well. 
No odious fish gewanium lurked in Young Snicker’s dainty 
boutoniere to tax his energies with its howid, disag weeable, ex- 
hausting odoh. 

Mrs. Snicker occupied her usual vacuum. The reader 
may take exception to this statement, and hurl at it the time- 
honored proposition of physics that nature abhors a vacuum. 
This proposition is doubtless true in a physical sense, but 
nature (or art) must love vacuums in society, seeing the num- 
ber she produces. 

Two hours were spent at various games of cards according 
to the tastes of the company. When a change of partners 
was made Miss Harrie Snicker managed to appropriate Arthur 
Wilson, while Fred secured May Bryce, and Chetta Ingle- 
dee fell to Norwell. The table at which May sat, was so 
situated that she could quietly observe all that passed in the 
large parlors. She thought she could detect in Chetta the 
old air of triumph which she had noticed once before. May 
became abstracted, and played poorly, greatly to the chagrin 
of her partner who prided himself on his skill, though he fre- 
quently forgot what cards had been played. Mr. Fred 
Snicker was much annoyed, and took little pains to conceal 
his feelings. He afterward remarked to his friend, Stilwell: 

w Deuced pwetty girl that Pwayeh Bwossum and weally 
watheh intewesting, but she cawn’tplay cards for pins; weally 
she cavvn’t.” Mr. Stilwell, who suddenly remembered a former 
conversation on the same subject, remarked, with a serious air: 

“ Snicker, laying all jest aside, is it true that country girls 
milk cows?” 


43 3 


AN IRON CROWN. 


44 No, it isn’t. It’s a downright slander. Say, Geawge,” 
he added confidentially, 44 1 looked at her hand and managed 
to squeeze it a little, you knaw, when we shook hands ” — 

44 Of course, I understand.” 

44 And it is as soft as mine.” 

44 No?” 

44 Yaas, fact.” 

44 1 shouldn’t have believed it.” 

44 Yaas?” 

44 Have you proposed yet, Snicker?” 

44 Now weally, Geawge, I think that is abwupt to ask a 
gentleman such a question so abwuptly, don’t you?” 

44 1 beg your pardon! No offense, I hope.” 

44 1 don’t mind telling you, though, that I’m considewing it. 
I’m afwaid the Governor would kick up a gwand wow, so I’ve 
not given myself away yet.” 

Wilson found Miss Snicker a rather poor whist partner. 
She kept continually asking what was trumps, and invariablv 
played a king when an opponent held the ace. But she played 
her cards much better in securing her full share of his society. 
After the cards she still clung to him and endeavored to 
entertain him by appearing interested in what she imagined 
might be of greatest interest to him, the place where he 
made his money. 

44 Mr. Wilson,” she asked, “did you see any of those dread- 
ful savages?” 

44 Which savages, Miss Snicker?” 

44 Why, the Indians to be sure.” 

44 Oh, yes, I saw Indians.” 

44 What do you think is the most noticeable thing about 
the red man, Mr. Wilson?” 

44 Rags and dirt,” was the laconic reply, at which Miss 
Snicker elevated slightly the end of her little pug nose. Had 
any one but an English 44 me lud,” or a millionaire made the 
remark, she would have considered it inexcusably vulgar. As 
it was, she was not offended at it nor at the millionaire, though 
her delicate sensibility had received an unpleasant shock 
through the disagreeable association of ideas. But every 
sphere of life has its painful duties, and it was now Miss Har- 
rie’s duty as a matter of courtesy to reply, however indelicate 
the subject might be: 

44 Poor creatures, I suppose they have to spend all their 
time making nice things for other people.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 433 

“ Yes, they do devote a great deal of attention to other 
people.” 

“I suppose, Mr. Wilson, you have ever so many curios- 
ities that you bought from them. I should like some as bric- 
a-bric. You’ll give me some, pipes and things, won’t you?” 
she added softly, with a languishing look. 

“ I should, with pleasure, it I had them, Miss Snicker. 
But I saw nothing of the sort among the Indians of Colorado.” 
“ Why, don’t they spend nearly all their time making such 
things? I thought they did. The Indians at the Falls do.” 

“ The custom differs slightlv out West.” 

“ Indeed! and-d — oh, what was I going to say — yes, I 
know. It must be delightful driving round the mountains, 
looking for gold. Of course you had an open carriage, so 
you could see the scenery ?” 

Wilson could not repress a look of astonishment, then 
added quietly: 

“ Yes, our carriage was very open, but not always erect, 
and sometimes scarcely dignified.” 

It was now Miss Snicker’s turn to look astonished, as she 
gazed at her companion in helpless bewilderment: 

“Not erect! not dignified! I think I scarcely follow you, 
Mr. Wilson. You mean the driver, don’t you?” He pitied 
her ignorance, and wished to spare her feelings, half ashamed 
of what he had done. 

“ I mean, Miss Snicker, that we zvalked . You see,” he 
added apologetically, “there are no roads on the mountains.” 
“Walked over all those horrid mountains! Why, how 
could you? It must be very fatiguing. There must be a 
great deal of exercise connected with the mining business.” 

“ Yes, there is plenty of exercise. As much I think, as in 
any business.” 

“ Why do they always dig mines in the mountains? 
Couldn’t they just as well make them on level ground? ” 

“ People have to dig where the mineral abounds. Of 
course there have been some exceptions to this rule in the 
history of mining, but then on the whole, people prefer to 
dig where there is a prospect of ore.” 

“ Oh, I see,” replied Harrie, as if struck suddenly by an 
idea. “ The silver and gold are mostly found in the moun- 
tains, and so they have to put the mines there. Why didn’t I 
think of that at first?” 

“ Yes, that’s the idea.” 


28 


434 


AN IRON CROWN. 


a Miners all get dreadfully rich, don’t they?” As Wilson 
thought of San Juan Shorty and some of the other old 
“rustlers,” he could scarcely avoid„laughing aloud. But he 
politely replied : 

u Some do, many do not. It is rather a hazardous business.” 
Suddenly, Miss Snicker, having a curiosity to know 
whether miners understood French, ventured the remark, as 
a feeler, that she thought the company unusually “ rechurchy.” 
“Excuse me, Miss Snicker, what did you say?” 

“ Cette compagnie est kummil faw. Naisy paw?” 

“I beg pardon, but I do not speak French.” 

“ Oh, I only said the company was very select. Forgive 
me for speaking French. It comes so natural.” 

After refreshments were served the little company re-ar- 
ranged itself in groups for miscellaneous social discourse. The 
doings of society were duly canvassed, the latest books dis- 
cussed by some, and the new plays criticised by others. Miss 
Ingledee had been studying May, while the latter had been 
doing the same for the well-known heiress. Chetta was 
resolved to learn more of this fair stranger. She engaged 
May in conversation, and managed to draw her aside into a 
deep window where they were alone. She hoped to be able 
to draw out this simple girl and get her to disclose some- 
thing of her acquaintance with Tom Norwell. She had 
reason to believe that May knew very little, if anything of 
Tom’s intimate acquaintance with herself, and at last she 
harbored the suspicion that perhaps her lover was engaged in 
a flirtation with this girl. Chetta suspected that May was 
trying to win Norwell, and it was better to know, if possible, 
just how far she had progressed. Perhaps she could trap 
May into confiding in her. It was a plan obviously unfair, 
but Chetta saw no other way, and fell back on the old maxim, 
“All’s fair in love and war.” But her most skillful efforts 
were adroitly frustrated. They talked for some time about 
the Norwells, but May said a great deal about Alice, and 
little about Tom. In reply to Chetta’s inquiries if they had 
been neighbors in Illinois, May’s only reply was that they 
lived a mile apart. 

Chetta, stung by secret jealousy, resolved to learn what 
she wished by stratagem. She could easily see that this girl 
was somewhat unsophisticated in the ways of the world, and 
naturally very sensitive. She would draw her out in some 
way if necessary, by alarming her. Chetta found it easy to 


AN IRON CROWN. 


435 


excuse what to others seems heartless. In self-defense, she 
was fighting for what was as dear to her as life. The 
enemy who invaded her domain must expect to be punished. 
Then, if May really cared nothing for Norwell, no harm 
would be done by this cunning but keen arrow. Chetta 
adroitly turned the conversation toward the drama, and in- 
cidentally mentioned the tragedy Francesca da Rimini, then 
being played by a celebrated actor. The plot of this play 
hinges, as the reader doubtless knows, on the fact that a 
young man sent to bring home the betrothed of his brother, 
himself falls in love with the beautiful girl. The enraged 
elder brother surprises the guilty pair in a tender love scene, 
and kills them both in his mad fury. May had not seen the 
play. Her interest increased as Chetta adroitly wove with 
the thread of the story, her scornful condemnation of the 
traitor. May listened with breathless interest as the fatal 
denouement was reached. u Thus,” said Chetta, in a voice 
which trembled with passion, “ died this base traitor, the 
basest of his kind, for of all traitors he is the worst who 
betrays love. He deserved to die like a dog.” 

Though there was small love between the fierce, crooked 
elder brother and his beautiful bride, the story furnished an 
excellent text, which this wily commentator had determined 
to enlarge upon. “ The person who comes between two 
who have loved long and truly, is a base thief. No good can 
come of stolen love. The meanest thief is he who steals 
affection.” 

May was surprised and somewhat startled at the energy 
displayed by this passionate woman. A virtuous indignation 
might grow denunciatory on such a theme, but here was a 
combative energy, which indicated a deep feeling on the part 
of the impassioned reciter of the tragic story. May grew 
very pale as it suddenly flashed upon her that all this acting 
had a purpose. She saw at a glance with her keen, womanly 
instinct that here was a rival, and one whose resources 
far outweighed her own. She shuddered at the tho light. 
Chetta saw the impression she had made and followed it up, 
after a moment’s pause, by asking u What do you think of the 
culmination of the plot, Miss Bryce?” 

“ I think that such cases seldom occur. True love never 
betrays love. Had this younger brother truly loved Fran- 
cesca he would have gone away from her forever.” 

This answer was hardly what Chetta expected. It puz- 


43 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


zled her. One thing was plain, the two women, though not 
open rivals, suspected and secretly feared each other, one with 
the angry fear that feels itself wronged, the other with that 
haunting, possessing fear that is conscious of weakness, and 
dreads a superior foe. The love of this romantic, inexperi- 
enced maiden was matched in a conflict for life, with that of 
this aggressive, wary city belle, aided by all the refined arts 
of a high culture and intimate knowledge of the world. For 
the vanquished there could be only misery. 


CHAPTER XLIII. 

some of America’s great financiers. — how to retire 

FROM BUSINESS. 

A long time has elapsed since we first made the acquaint- 
ance of the Honorable Dave Sawder. That eminent states- 
man and patriot is in the line of promotion. Having for 
several years gallantly flung his banner to the breeze in the 
very teeth of the demoralized opposition, and charged up and 
down the halls of Congress like a knight of old, challeng- 
ing them to wordy conflict, the Honorable Dave has been 
advanced by a grateful public to a seat in the Senate of the 
United States. In that august body it is necessary for the 
Honorable Dave to tone down a few of his more telling and 
dramatic figures of rhetoric, and startling devices of oratory 
which so well become the House of Representatives and the 
stump. He is now laboring to combine the stately gravity of 
a Roman father, with the prosiness which is the most con- 
spicuous characteristic of a United States Senator of the pres- 
ent decade. His old-time fellow laborer, Senator Sublet, who 
joined shoulder to shoulder with the House ring to push 
through all the notorious subsidy schemes of Ophir, Ingledee 
and Company, has retired permanently from politics and is 
now free to follow the bent of his abounding piety. This arch 
hypocrite was openly detected attempting to bribe a member 
of the State legislature, before which he was a candidate for 
re-election to the Senate of the United States. Sublet disap- 
peared in disgrace. Though the American people have un- 
bounded admiration for a great thief, they have no sympathy 


AN IRON CROWN. 


437 


for the man who is too clumsy to wriggle out of a corner when 
caught. Sawder of course was righteously indignant at the 
culpability of Sublet, and denounced (only when cornered him- 
self) the man with whom he had joined hand in hand to 
promote many a corrupt job. 

Several other of Sawder’s early friends have disappeared 
from public view. Among them was Mr. Oakes worth, 
whose figure was once a prominent one around Washington. 
Mr. Oakesworth was well-known among the Congressmen 
of that period. They had good reasons for knowing him, 
for he carried his check book in one hand and in the other a 
package of stocks of the “ Construction Credit Company,” a 
mysterious concern which earned fabulous dividends. He 
needed no other introduction to a member of that Congress. 
But Mr. Oakesworth’s little scheme was laid bare by a con- 
gressional investigating committee, and that gentleman died 
of a broken heart at the attendant disgrace. Mr. Sawder has 
been ambitious in the direction of the Presidency. But the 
American people cling to the notion that only strict, un- 
swerving, unpurchasable honesty should be elevated to that 
high office, while the Honorable Dave Sawder and his friends 
claim that he has been greatly misunderstood, abused, and 
maligned. 

One of the latest achievements attributed to the Honorable 
Dave Sawder and his political cronies, was to secure the de- 
feat of a bill by the provisions of which the Government was 
authorized to construct and operate a telegraph system in 
conjunction with the Postoffice Department. The great 
National Union Telegraph Company had grown into a vam- 
pire whose rapacity was insatiable. Of all the fat, yet ever 
hungry monopolies of the country, this, with the possible 
exception of the Octopus Oil Company, was the most profit- 
able, and consequently the most greedy. It had the absolute 
control of all the news of the country which it withheld and 
manipulated at will. Its profits were so great that after de- 
claring a liberal dividend, a surplus of several millions had 
accumulated which was divided as a script dividend. By this 
and other pretexts for the issue of stock the great National 
Union had watered its securities, till, by a careful estimate, 
based on the actual value of their plant, the stock amounted 
to at least three times the actual capital invested. A dividend 
of eight per cent, on their nominal capital was thus a divi- 
dend of twenty-four per cent, on the money actually invested. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


43 s 

A business man is usually satisfied with a reasonable profit 
on money actually invested. Railroad and telegraph lines 
double or treble their capital (on paper) by their own will, 
and impudently demand that the public shall pay an interest 
on this pretended capital which never existed.* 

When the enterprising Opliir had his attention directed to 
the National Union he saw at a glance what a choice plum it 
was. Immediately his mouth watered for the tempting fruit, 
and he began slily to shake the tree. But it was not to be 
had. The owners thought it was a good enough thing to 
keep. Ophir at once set about building the People’s Union 
as an opposition line. The word People’s had a peculiarly 
agreeable sound in the ears of the masses. Many were ver- 
dant enough to suppose that this was really a people’s line, 
just because its projectors said so. The People’s Union built 
thousands of miles of line all over the country in an incredibly 
short space of time. The infant in a few months grew so 
large that it threatened to swallow or ruin its older rival. 
The result may be told in three short sentences. First, there 
was a war of rates; then consolidation of the two companies, 
with excessive issue of watered stock; and finally, higher 
charges without competition. Meantime the Honorable Dave 
Sawder & Co. took care to see that the people of the United 
States obtained no relief through a postal telegraph. 

Arthur Wilson had been looking for an opportunity to 
make a safe and favorable investment of the large sum of 
money at his disposal. The People’s Union was said to offer 
unusual inducement to investors. Wilson investigated the 
matter thoroughly. He was naturally cautious, and his short 
experience in life had by no means increased his faith in the 
integrity of most men who manage great stock companies. 
He reasoned that few men could be honest in such positions, 
because the great momentum of corporate influence crushes 
the voice of the individual, even were he disposed to protest. 
Finally he had a private interview with Ophir himself. That 
gentleman, of course, recommended the People’s Union as a 
good thing, a safe thing. As the stock was offered considerably 
below par and beyond doubt would pay handsome dividends, 
Wilson finally concluded to take a large block. 

Scarcely had the consolidation of the National Union and 
the People’s telegraph companies been effected, when the 


♦Note 14. — Profits of Corporations. 


t 


AN IRON CROWN. 


439 


genius of this remarkable man Ophir, exhibited a new and 
totally unexpected phase, Ophir certainly deserves his repu- 
tation as the most remarkable money-maker of the century. 
His prolific brain teemed with new expedients to hoodwink 
the public, baffle his rivals, and secure his own triumph. If 
the genius of effrontery deserves to be commemorated, then 
New York should proclaim Ophir u divine ,* 7 after the fashion 
of the Romans of old, and set some score or more of his 
brazen statues in her busiest places. 

Ophir’s latest stroke of policy was to announce that he 
was about to retire from business. The u Daily Planet” and 
the u Censure ” which he controlled, published some two 
pages of his life and great achievements, concluding with the 
authoritative statement that Mr. John Ophir, weary of bus- 
iness cares, and satisfied with a snug fortune of one hundred 
millions, was about to seek the quiet of private life. Ophir 
was. yet scarcely fifty, and as he had begun life in a very 
humble ^business capacity, the people stood astounded at his 
phenomenal success. What wonder that they should do so in 
a nation where money is the one god before which thou shalt 
have none other, where it is at once the god of business, the 
god of pleasure, and the household lares! 

Ophir’s retirement was heralded all over the world. The 
country press copied the articles from the New York papers 
and the great man’s name jingled continually on the public 
tongue for a time. The public, with its customary verdancy, 
took him at his word, and thought that, having stolen enough 
he was really going to step aside and give the other fellows a 
chance. The foreign press reprinted the article, commented 
on it in their usual hazy fashion where American affairs are 
concerned, and finally dropped it. They were unable to 
figure out the tremendous problem of how any man could 
begin on nothing and accumulate one hundred millions in 
twenty-five years. They gave it up in despair. Ophir’s 
retirement, which had seemed premature, was simple enough 
when explained. He was loaded up with stocks. He fore- 
saw a period of financial depression, and was willing to part 
with his stocks at high prices and fill up his vaults with cash. 
He could easily buy the stocks back for half the money when 
the crash came. His quitting business was an advertisement, 
and withal, a colossal stroke of policy. 


CHAPTER XLIV. 


IN WHICH MISS INGLEDEE STARTLES HER RIVAL, PROVOKES 

THE WRATH OF HER FATHER, DARES A LOVER, AND BE- 
COMES AN EXILE FROM HOME. 

Miss Ingledee had enjoyed but a doubtful and fleeting 
triumph, on the occasion of her conversation with May Bryce 
at Miss Snicker’s party. For a brief time she imagined that 
her simple rival would abandon a contest where the odds 
were so greatly against her. She grew indignant, as she 
thought of Miss Bryce’s presumption, and though she knew 
it was unchristian, thought that a triumph over her rival 
would be the sweetest revenge. She considered it an act of 
theft on May’s part, taking it for granted that the girl was 
making most of the advances to Norwell, who sought the 
society of his old friend as before. She believed him incapable 
of deliberate duplicity. After the repeated hints she had given 
May* Bryce concerning her own acquaintance with Nor- 
well, she considered it an unpardonable piece of presumption 
on the part of that young lady to continue angling after him. 
Her anger rose hotter, the more she thought of this affair. 
She had been instrumental in getting May into the best 
society, and this was the result. “ The ungrateful little de- 
signing minx! Pll teach her a lesson she’ll not forget soon,” 
was her angry soliloquy. Then she experienced again a 
moment’s triumph as she thought of May’s pale face and 
frightened aspect when the awful fate of Francesca da 
Rimini had shadowed forth the revenge of outraged love. 
In truth, Ma} r Bryce, unused to exciting scenes, and thrown 
off her guard by the suddenness of the incident, had for a 
moment believed Chetta capable of wreaking the Italian’s 
vengeance where there was only an imaginary offense. 

But later thoughts changed all this, and Chetta was 
obliged to acknowledge that she could never frighten this 
woman to give up Norwell, provided he offered the intruder 
any encouragement. Her heart sank as she remembered that 
he was bound by no promise. But she blamed the woman 

( 44 °) 


AN IRON CROWN. 


44 i 


who was trying to take away her lover, while for him she 
had only excuses. She chafed with impatient vexation, and 
felt no little genuine dread as she realized that she had a 
dangerous rival. Chetta really believed that she had been 
wronged, and now conceived May Bryce to be a sly, schem- 
ing rival, whose plot it would be only fair to defeat. She 
resolved on an active campaign. But the situation involved 
so many difficulties that she was completely at a loss to know 
what to do. As she thought again of May’s pale, frightened 
face, she was ashamed of the cruel shaft concealed in the 
dramatic recital of the evening before. She resolved to fight 
fair, and never surrender. 

Tom Norwell would at once suspect some motive in any 
very marked change of her relations toward him. He was 
too indifferent to be urged. If she could only bring him to a 
declaration all would be well. Then there would be no more 
jealousies, no more flirting, no more heart burning. Natu- 
rally inclined to break away from conventional restraints and 
do the thing which she knew to be right in her own way, 
Miss Ingledee chafed like a caged wild animal at the artificial 
barriers with which society hedges a woman’s love. Her 
impetuous nature, which had never known any real restraint, 
was maddened at the thought of now being thwarted in the 
one object of life for which all others should give way. 

“ Why must I wait like a slave in the market, and 
patiently endure the critical examination of men, till some one 
deigns to bid for me? Oh, I loathe the very thought, and hate 
myself. One word to him, and all would be plain. I should 
be happy for life or know the worst at once, and end this 
torturing suspense. Why doesn’t he speak? Horace Roker 
would — but I fairly detest that man.” With these last words 
she gave a vicious little stamp of her foot, rose and paced the 
floor with quick, nervous step. Then she bathed her throb- 
bing temples in cold water, arranged her hair, and sat down 
to try to read. Scarcely had she done so when there was a 
knock at her door. Recognizing her father’s step she called 
out, u Come in.” 

Mr. Ingledee, who had just returned to the city that day 
from one of his frequent trips looking after his great interests, 
was in no very good humor. Silas had not been doing well 
lately. His wild extravagance had piled up a mountain of 
debt, which the father had been obliged to pay. He had 
drawn so heavily on the parental cash of late, that Mr. Ingle- 


44 3 


AN IRON CROWN. 


dee felt sure there was only one way to spend so much 
money in so short a time, and that was by gambling. He 
had elicited some important facts concerning his son from 
Horace Roker. That gentleman made the revelations only 
after some rather mandatory questioning, cunningly pretend- 
ing that he had not said much heretofore out of delicacy, in 
regard to the private and domestic affairs of his employer. 
But in pursuance of his policy he had not told half, and had 
made that half look as favorable for Silas as possible. Lately 
Henry Ingledee had shown the marks of care. There were 
deep lines in his face and gray hairs appeared thickly among 
the jet black. His ample millions could not solace his old 
age, while their baleful influences were sending an idolized 
only son to ruin, if not to infamy. 

“ Roker,” he had said, “ I thank you for your kind assist- 
ance in this matter. I appreciate your reluctance to speak of 
it, but hereafter be plain. Do not spare my feelings. I rely 
on you. Can we not devise some means of saving my boy? 
He is more to me than all else.” Here tears stole into the 
eyes of the stricken father. He could say no more. 

“ We will do all we can, sir,” was the only reply. 

At the close of the day on which this conversation oc- 
curred, Ingledee came to speak with his daughter. This girl 
had always been true to him, and had loved him as a dutiful, 
affectionate child. But now, after returning from an absence 
of some duration, he did not have for her the affectionate 
greeting which was her due. He was a disappointed man, 
cross and vexed, and had come to her in a complaining mood 
rather than to embrace a loving child. He came to a proud- 
spirited woman, whose temper was like the train of gun- 
powder ready to receive a spark. The sight of him for a 
moment diverted her own rebellious thoughts. She was glad 
to see him. She threw her arms about him and kissed him 
fondly. 

“ Papa, I am so glad you have come. Are you well?” 

u Quite well, daughter. A little tired, perhaps.” She saw 
at a second glance that something was coming and instinct- 
ively shrank away a little. 

“Where is Silas?” he began. 

“ I do not know, papa. I have not seen him for nearly a 
week.” 

“ A very affectionate household in my absence, truly,” he 
said rather petulantly. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


443 


“ It is just what it always has been, papa.” 

“ I am not satisfied with Silas’s conduct. He is going 
wrong. It is your duty, Chetta, to save him.” 

“ Papa, tell me what to do and I will gladly do it. I have 
tried everything I could think of, but I have failed. He 
doesn’t seem to care for me verv much.” Chetta said this 
with a touch of feeling that there had been so little in com- 
mon between herself and her brother. 

“ It is your own fault.” 

“ How, papa? ” 

“You never made enough of him. Go with 'him more.” 
“ He never invites me.” 

“Then do as I have before suggested. Have more com- 
pany here. Perhaps you could get him interested in vour 
friends, and he might become intimate with a better class of 
young men. There’s Bullion, Van Brocken, Brownell, 
Snicker, and the rest of them. Then there is Arthur Wilson. 
I consider him a most excellent and sensible young man.” 

“ These young men all have an acquaintance with our 
family. If they do not choose to keep it up, am I to blame?” 
“ Perhaps they receive little encouragement. There is 
Wilson for instance. He is certainly a desirable acquisition 
to society, and I understand he has made a fortune in mining.” 
“ Papa, is it your wish that I invite money to this house?” 
she asked, looking him directly in the face. 

“ Money moves the world,” he replied evasively. 

“ Papa, I shall not invite Mr. Wilson to come here.” 

“ It is of no consequence to me whether you do or not, 
but I should like to ask why you name him in particular, 
Chetta ? ” 

“ The money that has come here has not been fortunate. 
Look at Mr. Norwell and Mr. Garmand.” 

“ What have I to do with their losses?” he asked, with a 
touch of anger. 

“ Perhaps we have more to do with it than we care to 
admit. Our example may have led them on. Familiarity is 
opportunity.” 

“Do you think,” he said with painful deliberation, “that 
I could turn the sacred offices of hospitality to so base a pur- 
pose? Do you accuse me of this? I am ashamed of your 
unworthy insinuation. I am ashamed of my child.” 

“And I too am ashamed of myself, and my race and blood. 
I would lose my life if that could wipe out the stain. It 


444 


AN IRON CROWN. 


wrings my heart to confess it, but I too have blushed for 
shame at the mention of my father’s name.” 

She stood proudly before him, with a fearless look of 
righteous indignation. This iron man, who never quailed 
before any one, stood aghast at these words of his daughter. 
He scarcely comprehended them. The blow was so unex- 
pected that it stunned him. 

“ Chetta,” he said finally, “ you are mistaken. I never 
wished to take advantage of your friends, or wished you to 
make friends that I might use them to my advantage. It 
shocks me inexpressibly to know that you ever entertained 
such a thought. But now that the mistake is cleared up, 
let it pass. You have been very hasty. Let it be a lesson.” 
“ Papa, I have not been hasty. I have made no mistake. It 
is you who are — are — ” She hesitated as if the hateful words 
she was about to utter would choke her. With an effort she 
went on, and her speech grew more emphatic, word by word: 
“You know well that you have deliberately planned to 
cheat others our of their money. You dare not deny it. I 
would rather die than make such a humiliating accusation 
against my own father, but you know I speak the truth.” 
Her clear convictions of the wrongs heaped up with the 
family wealth, the weight of secret disgust and shame which 
she had borne for years as it grew daily heavier, the sup- 
pressed indignation at her father’s deliberate conspiracy, all 
these things had burst forth in a moment. Her love of right, 
and conscientious regard for truth, were fully aroused. She 
would no longer encourage dishonesty, and would have 
spoken had the rack or stake stood before her. For a 
moment Mr. Ingledee stood in speechless astonishment, then 
in anger he hissed out: 

“Traitor! Where did you learn this?” 

“No matter where. You see I am not mistaken. I hate 
the very sight of money. I hate the name of money. Every- 
thing it touches in this house it curses.” 

“ Chetta, are you mad ? ” 

“No, I am not mad. It is you who are mad in this 
insane hunt for gold.” 

“And has it come to this? Have I nurtured a viper in 
my bosom to turn and sting me ? ” 

“A viper! I am not ungrateful, father. I love you. I 
hate the money which has made you a slave.” 

“You have betrayed me.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


445 


“ I never did,” she answered proudly. a I scorn to tell a 
falsehood, or play the part of a traitor. I am not ungrateful, 
but i tell you plainly, I should rather live and die in poverty 
than revel in the wealth obtained by deception.” Mr. Ingle- 
dee’s eyes were fixed on his daughter with a terrible glare. 
His fingers twitched nervously. He trembled with passion, 
but strove to control himself. He hated violence. In a 
moment he had control of his faculties, and said in a stern, 
harsh tone which indicated the iron grip of a will that would 
suppress 'all passion : 

“Enough! As you say! Go and live in poverty. I’ll 
shelter no traitor under my roof.” Then striving to appear 
indifferent he walked from the room and sought the seclu- 
sion of his private office. A great crisis had been reached in 
his life. One child had voluntarily gone to ruin, another had 
dared to thwart him, and accuse him of dishonesty. Had he 
felt absolutely innocent he could have forgiven her, as it was, 
she might go and enjoy the poverty she spoke of. He would 
suffer no human being to interfere with his plans, he would 
feed no traitor at his table. After her father left the room, 
Chetta Ingledee paced the floor for a few moments with the 
nervous, impatient manner, in which her father’s visit had 
almost surprised her. She was laboring under a tumult of 
emotion which seemed to grow as she tried to reason it away, 
and think coherently. Suddenly she formed a decided resolu- 
tion. She went to a little rosewood writing desk, and taking 
out paper and pen, wrote a short note. Then she rang for 
one of the servants and told the man to see that the note was 
delivered at once. It was very brief, containing only the date 
and the following line: 

“Mr. Norwell: 

Can you call for a few minutes about half-past eight this evening? 
I wish particularly to see you. 

Chetta Ingledee.” 

Then she wrote, in a rapid, business-like hand that 
betrayed little of the excitement under which she had so 
recently labored, two other notes, which she addressed and 
placed in a little drawer of the desk. 

She was calmer now, and again tried to read but could not 
fix her mind on the book, and found herself repeating line 
after line without being aware of a single thought contained 
in them. She called a servant and asked if Mr. Ingledee had 


44 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


dined yet. On receiving an affirmative reply, Chetta gave 
her toilet a few little touches, and went down to the family 
dining room. There she asked the servant to bring her a bit 
of chicken and a cup of tea. These, with bread and butter, 
constituted a light dinner which was soon dispatched. 

Having learned that her father had gone out, she passed 
from one room to another, looking at the rich furniture, and 
the beautiful decorations. She lingered for a moment in the 
“White and Gold ” saloon apparently studying beauties which 
she had seen a thousand times before. Then she passed into 
the little parlor where her mother’s portrait hung. Before 
this she paused for a time in deep reflection, as she scanned 
the saddened lineaments of her dead parent. A calm came 
over the features of the living, which seemed to be as pro- 
found as that of the immobile features on the canvas. She 
passed up the broad marble stairway to her apartments on 
the second floor. She was alone in the great house excepting 
the servants. She mused, “ Will he speak when this oppor- 
tunity is offered, which will be the last he may ever have?” 

Tom Nor well received Chetta’s note just as he was about 
to start to call on May Bryce. He had promised to call on 
her and spend the evening. Bv going early he could fulfill 
his engagement and afterward call in answer to this inexplic- 
able note which greatly puzzled him. May Bryce too, had 
passed the day tormented by distressing doubts. Chetta 
Ingledee’s reference to the fate of Francesca da Rimini had, 
for a moment, filled her with terror, and she had shown her 
fear to her triumphant rival. She no longer had any doubt 
that Chetta was a rival, and she feared the superior tactics of 
this world-wise, passionate woman. She realized that she 
herself was not capable of any stratagems, or finely spun 
wiles to hold her lover. She could re A only °n — well, she 
could not tell what had won him at first. She had very few 
weapons, and those poor ones, she thought, while her antago- 
nist had a whole arsenal. It was true that Chetta’s ruse to 
discover May’s relations to Norwell, in itself, amounted to 
nothing. It was a historical incident which could have no 
parallel in the present instance, but it indicated the aggressive 
nature of the foe. May never for a moment really confessed 
to herself that she doubted Norwell, but she was obliged to 
confess that she greatly feared Chetta Ingledee. 

Norwell came and spent half an hour with his Prairie 
Flower, as he still persisted in calling her, despite her protes- 


AN IKON CROWN. 447 

tations that it was very foolish. At length, he suddenly an- 
nounced that he was obliged to take his leave. 

“ Why, Tom, I thought you were to spend the evening 
here,” she exclaimed, in surprise. 

“ So I was, hut I have been unexpectedly called away on 
business.” 

“ Tom, Alice says you gentlemen sometimes make busi- 
ness an excuse when you wish to go to the club or somewhere 
else and have your fun all to yourselves.” 

“ Alice sometimes talks nonsense.” 

“ Do I bore you, dear?” 

“ No, certainly not, little girl. What ever put that into 
your head?” 

“ Then why don’t you stay awhile longer? Arthur and 
Alice will be back soon.” 

u But I say I have been called away unexpectedly. Surely 
you will believe me.” 

“ Y es, Tom, I believe you. Would you mind telling me 
where you are going?” 

“ I can’t do that, May.” He was not exactly at ease, and 
she saw it. 

“ Sometime,” he continued, by way of putting her off, “we 
shall not have any secrets, you know, but this time I cannot 
tell you.” He left abruptly. 

May sat in thought. Had she known his errand, it would 
have broken her heart. She had heard that true love never 
ran smooth. Hsrs had run for one summer in a broad, deep 
current without a ripple. Now it was breaking into the 
plunging rapids which apparently led only to jagged rocks, 
seething whirlpools, and perhaps dark disaster. A sudden 
revulsion of feeling came over her. For a moment it seemed 
as if all light had gone out of the world. She wished she 
had never seen New York, or mingled in its elegant society. 
She almost wished she had never met Tom Norwell. But 
that thought she instantly repented of, for then she would 
never have known that sweetest of all pleasures, first love, for 
her the only love possible. Alice and Arthur returned pres- 
ently, and by their cheerful conversation and sunny mood soon 
restored her to good humor. In their love there were no 
doubts, no secrets, no anxieties, no raptures. It was a power- 
ful current that flowed the same every day. It had its eddies, 
and occasionally a ripple, but these only showed that it was 
an active, progressive principle. 


44 S 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Norwell went directly to the Ingledee residence, and was 
shown into the parlor. 

“ I sent for you, Tom,” Chetta began. 

“Yes, I got your note.” 
u You are an old friend, you know.” 

“ Of course, and I am always at your service.” 

She drew one of the luxurious, velvet-cushioned easy chairs 
for him, and another facing it, for herself. Then for a few 
minutes they engaged in conversation on commonplace sub- 
jects. She hardly knew how to begin, and several times 
abandoned entirely the project she had in mind, only to return 
to it. He saw she was not at ease, and waited for her to 
begin. At last, drawing nearer, she said: 

“ Mr. Norwell, events have transpired lately, which will 
make great changes in my future.” 

“Yes?” he answered, with curiosity aroused. 

“ I shall £fo South for a time.” 

“ I wish I could go, too, during these disagreeable winter 
months.” 

“Why not?” she asked, banteringly, as she looked him 
full in the face. 

He could only interpret her question literally, and replied: 
“ Too expensive.” 

“ I shall go in a very plain way.” Then, lest Tom should 
wonder at that, she added, “Papa wishes it so.” 

“ Isn’t this unexpected ?” She had never gone off alone 
in this way, and he wondered at it since her father or brother 
were not to accompany her. 

“ It was all arranged to-day. As my first and, I trust, 
best friend, I wished you to know it at once.” He was 
puzzled no little, but said nothing. 

“ Tom, I have often thought of our friendship. It has 
been so close that you scarcely seem like any other friend to 
me.” A slight color tinged her cheek, but he gave no sign of 
having noticed it. 

“ Miss Ingledee ” (she had called him Tom, and he would 
take no notice of that), “I can never thank you sufficiently for 
all that you have done for me. You have aided me when no 
others could. I can never repay you, I fear.” 

“ Gratitude pays the debts of friendship. Other debts 
should be paid in kind.” She was thinking of the debt of 
love, and now his thoughts were with hers. He felt guilty 
and embarrassed. He did not know what answer to make, so 
said nothing. After a moment’s pause, she added: 


AN IRON CROWN. 449 

“ Do you think I could do otherwise than assist you? I 
shall always do so if the future leaves it in my power.” 

44 1 shall never forget your kindness, Miss Ingledee.” 

And was this all his answer? Now when she had told 
him she was about to leave, and hinted that it might make a 
great difference in their future, he sat impassioned as a stone, 
and talked of gratitude. Was he putting her off purposely, 
or was it downright stupidity? She was annoyed, but deter- 
mined to give him a last chance to speak. But he was not 
the dolt his conduct might have indicated. He saw her pur- 
pose clearly now. He saw his own terrible mistake in neg- 
lecting this woman whom he had once loved. It was now 
too late; he had pledged his affections elsewhere, and would 
loyally conceal his disappointment and marry the woman he 
had promised. Here was the long-expected crisis. She was 
going away, and he must now give her to understand that 
nothing but friendship could henceforth exist between them. 
To have announced his engagement then and there would 
have settled the matter forever. But it would also have ex- 
posed his weak trifling, so he could not summon courage to 
do the only manly thing to be done. 

44 Papa has always thought a great deal of you.” 

44 1 know it, and shall not forget it.” 

44 It is hard for old friends to part. I shall be absent a 
long time, I think.” 

44 It is hard. But such things must occur. Chetta, we 
have been good friends all our lives. But we could not be 
friends always. Sometime the best of friends must part. 
They cannot be together forever, neither can we. No, that 
is impossible.” He looked her full in the face, and slowly 
repeated: 44 That is impossible.” Then he took her hand,, 

and, holding it a moment, said very kindly: 44 1 wish you a 

very pleasant journey. Good-bye.” 

44 Good-bye,” she replied, and he was gone. 

She saw now that he understood her, and that he had 
loved her. But what was the meaning of the word impos- 
sible? She could not believe that he was promised to that 
other woman, while he had still kept in correspondence with 
her. It must be that he would not marry her because he was 
poor. Then it suddenly flashed across her mind that in the 
step she was about to take she herself would be poor. Some- 
time maybe they might meet again on equal terms, and still 
be happy. Still hope lingered in her heart. 


45 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


It was not yet nine o’clock. By taking a hack, she could 
reach Pipe Malley & Co.’s store before they closed. Passing 
out at a side door, she gained the street, hailed a hackman, 
and was soon down town, amid the dirty streets of that vi- 
cinity. She alighted, and entered the store at once. 

The twins, since we first made their acquaintance, have 
grown from boys to great strapping youths. Pipe is now 
neatly attired in a business suit, as becomes the proprietor of 
a flourishing retail shop. He even wears a watch and stylish 
gold-plate chain. Quill is still engaged in the business of 
wearing. out his brother’s old clothes. As the boy rapidly 
increases in length, while the pantaloons, through an obvious 
defect in nature’s machinery do not, it is with difficulty that 
Quill persuades his socks and the legs of his pantaloons to 
meet on friendly terms. On the present occasion Pipe look- 
ing through the door and seeing a hack drive up, called out 
quickly : 

“ Quill, there’s a lady coinin’. Let up on them figs.” 
Pipe had managed to find time to attend a night school a 
good deal and had really laid in a considerable store of knowl- 
edge, but unfortunately his ideas of grammar were purely 
theoretical, like those of most people whose study of the 
anatomy of English speech is confined to rattling the dry 
bones of its skeleton once per day for a fixed period, after 
which the skeleton is relegated, not to the closet along with 
the family skeleton, but to the next class in anatomy. Gram- 
mar apparently is not an applied science. 

“ Good-evening, Miss Ingledee,” said Pipe, as he met his 
teacher at the door. “ We’re awful glad to see you.” 

“ Good-evening, Pipe,” 

44 Quill, why don’t you come out from behind the counter 
and speak to Miss Ingledee?” • 

Quill, whose natural bashfulness always kept him in the 
background, now hastily pulled up his hose to a junction with 
his pantaloons and came forward to speak to Chetta. His hands 
and face were, as regards cleanliness, greatly in advance of 
their former condition, though Pipe had remarked during the 
evening while in a surly mood that they were hardly pass- 
able, and to an observer it might seem as if the criticism had 
a basis of truth. By dint of untiring effort, however, Pipe 
had succeeded at length in teaching Quill that it was not the 
proper thing to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. 
Quill was still on salary, and had a glimmering prospect of 


AN IRON CROWN. 


45 1 

being a partner when he had advanced a little further along 
the road to cleanliness, industry and financial responsibility. 
Pipe rigidly insisted that Quill must “brace up” and be some- 
body. a He would have no slouch of a partner.” 

“ Quill, how are you getting along learning the business?” 
asked Chetta. 

“ Good enough, I guess,” he answered sheepishly, as he 
glanced furtively toward his shabby and insufficient clothing. 
At Sunday school a goodly portion of his person was 
concealed by the seat in front of him. Now he was sure 
that she saw the deficiencies in his make-up. He would 
have given all he was worth, which was very little, indeed, to 
be dressed up like Pipe in a new suit. But that was only for 
“ his betters,” he supposed, as Pipe had once taken the pains 
to inform him in a hasty moment when the twins were 
exchanging some of those delicate compliments that fond 
relatives sometimes lavish on one another in private. Quill 
stood there plainly before her and blushed. Pipe, in calling 
him from behind the counter, had cruelly though uninten- 
tionally exposed him. The visitor, however, apparently 
noticed neither his clothes nor his embarrasment. He knew 
that she saw both and was grateful to her for turning to look 
at some fruit. 

“ Quill, remember what I said about helping you. When 
you have done your part I will do mine. Pipe, I came to 
ask a favor of you.” 

“ Pll do it with pleasure, Miss Ingledee.” 

“ I shall not be at the Mission School next Sunday. I 
expect to be out of the city. Please give this note to Mr. 
Hardin, the superintendent, and he will find you another 
teacher. Try to be as good to her as you have been to me.” 
“ An’ ain’t you cornin’ back at all?” 

46 Not for a good while, Pipe.” 

“ I tell you I’m dreadful sorry you’re goin’.” 

“ You’ll find another teacher as good, I think.” 

“ Don’t want another as good. We want you.” 

“Since you can’t have me, try to help the new one, will 
you ?” 

“ I’ll see that the fellers behaves,” confidently answered 
Pipe. The class had grown during the years of Miss Ingle- 
dee’s teaching till the boys who at first were, in their own 
slang dialect, “ kids,” had now progressed to the adolescent 
condition of “ fellers,” the twins being among the oldest, and 


45 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Pipe, by virtue of his position as a business man, a leader 
among them. 

“ That’s right, Pipe. Thank you .’ 1 

“Are you goin’ fur?” 

“I am going away,” said Chetta evasively. “Maybe 
gone for a long time.” 

“ Lem me put up some oranges fur you in a paper. 
They’re awful nice. Best sweet Floridas. They’ll keep.” 
He tossed half a dozen into a paper sack. “ They’ll be poorty 
nice in the cars when it’s dusty.” 

She took them, and a tear stole down her cheek. These 
street waifs that under her care had slowly been growing 
into a better manhood, seemed after all, her best friends. 
She rejoiced that she had done such a work. Life for her 
had not been all in vain. It was doubtful if all her father’s 
millions had ever done so good a deed. She longed to tell 
these boys that she was going away and never expected to 
see them again, but that might defeat her plans. Hastily 
thanking Pipe for the fruit, she shook hands with them both 
and merely saying, “ Good-bye. Be good to your new 
teacher,” was gone. 

Chetta drove directly home, and telling the hackman to 
call for her again at twelve, went to her room. She spent 
the intervening hour packing in a large valise her most useful 
articles of clothing. Her expensive jewelry she would not 
touch, but took a few articles of lesser value. At twelve 
o’clock she left the house noiselessly by a side door, drove to 
the Pennsylvania Railroad ferry, and took a train for Phil- 
adelphia. 


CHAPTER XLV. 

MR. ROKER STARTLES CERTAIN FOLKS GREATLY BY HIS 
THEORY OF AN ELOPEMENT. — HE PAYS A VISIT TO 
MAY BRYCE. DEATH OF SILAS INGLEDEE. 

Next morning Mr. Ingledee sat down to his breakfast at 
the usual hour. He unfolded his paper and sipped his coffee 
as he read the news. He still showed traces of the anger 
which had burst forth the day before. This was not dis- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


453 


played in snappish remarks to the servants. Henry Ingledee 
was a man who cared but little for the petty things of life. 
He never grumbled over the minor details of his household 
or found fault if his toast was not browned to the precise 
shade. He was above such contemptible conduct as habitual 
grumbling. But cafe was beginning to show traces of her 
constant presence with him now. This morning his face 
looked unusually grave. He dispatched his breakfast in 
silence, occasionally looking toward the door. He expected 
his daughter. In truth, Mr. Ingledee regretted the scene of 
the evening before, though he still argued to himself the 
necessity of rebuking the utterances of his child. Jin all else 
she had been a dutiful daughter, but on this one point he 
would have no disloyalty, or, at least, interference. He could 
allow no aspersions on his business or his motives. He 
thought this a severe rebuke which would doubtless render 
any further admonitions of the same kind unnecessary. Still 
Chetta did not come, and Mr. Ingledee was quite through 
with his breakfast. He told a servant to go and call Miss 
Ingledee. 

In a few minutes the girl returned, saying that her knock 
had received no answer. He sent her to knock again and 
open the door if it were not locked. Immediately the girl 
returned, saying that Miss Ingledee had not spent the night 
in her room. She handed the master two letters, one directed 
to himself and the other to Silas. Instantly he had a pre- 
science of what had occurred. He hastily tore open the note 
and read: 


“ Dear Papa: 

I am going away forever. Do not think too hard of me. I would 
have given anything to spare you the pain I caused you. But the duty to 
right and to God is above all others. I cannot think differently about 
your business and your money. Forgive me for saying so. I love you 
dearly, and shall never forget that you are my father, but we could not 
be happy together now. 


So good-bye. 


Chetta.” 


Mr. Ingledee read the note through deliberately, and then 
calling the servant, told her to take Mr. Silas’s note, and see if 
he was in. If he was, ask him to come down at once. Mr. 
Silas happened to be in and in bed. Taking the note from 
the servant, he opened it and received a very great surprise 
from its contents. It read as follows: 


AN IRON CROWN. 


454 

“Dear Brother: 

Papa and I have had a quarrel. I can stay here no longer. It 
would be misery for both. I am very sorry to leave you forever. Please 
do, for my sake, try to be a better boy. Papa can easily spare me, but if 
anything should happen you I think it would kill him. Will you try? 
Please forgive the faults of your sister, and try to remember her kindly. 
Good-bye, dear boy. 

Your Loving Sister, 

Chetta.” 

With his toilet in a very incomplete state, Silas hastened 
down to his father’s private office. 

“ What is the meaning of all this?” he asked excitedly. 

In reply, Mr. Ingledee handed Silas the note addressed to 
the father, while he took the one addressed to his son. After 
perusing the note, Silas said: 

“ But I don’t understand it at all.” 

“ It is soon made plain. Your sister chose to impugn my 
business motives, and I reproved her rather severely. She 
has not taken it kindly, that is all.” 

“ But what did you say to her, father?” persisted Silas. 

“ I shall allow no child who eats my bread, to say it was 
obtained dishonestly. I think I told her I should harbor no 
traitor.” 

“ Don’t you think that was a little rough on Chet? You 
know she’s full of mettle.” 

“ She must learn duty and obedience.” 

“ Hang it all, what’s the use of paying any attention to 
the thoughtless words of a girl?” 

“ They were not thoughtless words. They were very de- 
liberate, on the contrary.” 

“Well, suppose they were. It’s a woman’s way to talk. 
You’ve been too severe on her. Suppose she did say that 
stock operations are not always straight. Don’t we know it 
to be a fact? And doesn’t the public know it?” 

“What! Are you going to harp the same tune? Be- 
ware! I tell you I will not have it.” But the young man 
was by no means intimidated by the threat. In coolness and 
specious insinuating logic he was fully the equal of his father, 
while his knowledge of the world was a valuable auxiliary 
just now. 

“ Now, father,” he said deprecatingly, “ do not misunder- 
stand me. I am only saying what we know about our busi- 
ness. I’m not harping it to the world, and I’m not going back 
on the business. But facts are facts, just the same. Now if 


AN IRON CROWN. 


455 


you will allow me to express my plain opinion of this busi- 
ness I say that I think you have made a deuce of a bad break.” 

“ I have simply done nothing, sir.” 

“ Chet hasn’t deserved this,” said Silas, paying no atten- 
tion to the interruption. “ If you had given me such a scor- 
ing there would have been more propriety in it — at least every- 
body thinks so, and I know my feelings could stand it, and 
hers couldn’t.” 

“ If she had come to me and asked to go away for a year 
I should have made an ample provision. She is wilful and 
ungrateful.” 

“ She would beg before she would ask for a thing in that 
way.” 

a Well, now that it is over, there’s no use discussing the 
subject further,” said Mr. Ingledee, trying to dismiss the mat- 
ter summarily. In truth he felt that he was in the wrong 
partly at least, but he would not openly admit it just yet. 

“ But it isn’t over, father. We must get Chetta back, and 
that will perhaps be no easy matter.” 

“ She left of her own accord. She may come back the 
same way. I will have nothing further to do with the affair.” 

“ Now, father, you are unreasonable. We must get her 
back. I shall have all the detectives in the country engaged 
before I’ll give up the case.” 

“ Do as you please, Silas, but do it in your own name. I’ll 
pay the bills if they are reasonable, but that is all.” For the 
sake of the family name Mr. Ingledee was willing to do so 
much. 

He drove down town to the office and called Roker in at 
once. The two had a private interview of considerable length. 
Roker was greatly puzzled and considerably disconcerted at 
the disappearance of the young lady. Lately he flattered 
himself that he was progressing in his own suit, almost im- 
perceptibly he knew, and more by the lever of intimacy 
than through any evidences she gave of caring for this frigid 
gentleman who kept his society manners continually on ice. 
Mr. Ingledee was not very explicit in revealing the details of 
the scene between himself and his daughter. So far as Roker 
heard them, he thought they were not sufficient cause for the 
flight. Then Roker hinted at an elopement with Tom Nor- 
well. This greatly surprised Mr. Ingledee. He knew in his 
heart that his daughter had ample cause in his words for leav- 
ing her home. But he was surprised at Roker’s suggestion 


45 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


of elopement, and thought the anger exhibited by that gen- 
tleman highly commendable in a friend of the family. Roker 
was unsparing in his denunciation, and said hard things of 
Norwell in his rage. Ingledee finally reminded him that this 
idea was at best only a surmise. He was unwilling to believe 
this of Norwell, who was in the main an excellent young man, 
he thought. Roker, however, convinced Mr. Ingledee finally 
that it was best to take active measures for recovering the 
fugitive. 

On the day following Chetta Ingledee’s flight, Tom Nor- 
well called at the quiet boarding-house where his sister and 
May Bryce lived. His call was very brief. He had come to 
tell them that business would take him from the city for a few 
days, as he intended going to Pennsylvania. With these few 
words of explanation, he left the women, who thought there 
was nothing: strang-e about the matter. 

On the same evening Mr. Horace Roker called and inquired 
for Miss Bryce. He had a speaking acquaintance with both 
of the young ladies, but scarcely a calling acquaintance. How- 
ever, May thought little of this, having been brought up where 
the formalities of etiquette were often ignored. Horace Roker 
never affected to play the smiling, bowing, facile beau who 
is always happy in the society of ladies, regardless of time or 
circumstance. He never could have played that role if he 
had chosen. His was not a face that smiles adorned, and his 
smirk would have been a hideous thing:. Faultless dress and 
extreme gentility were his strong points with the fair sex. 

He chatted pleasantly for some time with Miss Bryce, 

talked about her countrv home, asked her how she liked the 

^ * 

city, mentioned society events casually, and on the whole, 
greatly entertained her. Then he remarked that he must be 
going soon. He wished to drop in at the Argosy Club, hop- 
ing to meet Mr. Norwell. May now informed him that his 
visit would be fruitless, as Mr. Norwell had left town for a 
few days. This was a startling corroboration of Roker’s elope- 
ment theory, but he exhibited no surprise on receiving the im- 
portant news. Thanking her for the information, Roker still 
seemed in no hurry to go, but continued the conversation 
until he artfully obtained a confirmation of his surmise that May 
knew more about Tom Norwell than she cared to confess. 
He changed the conversation abruptly, and asked her if she 
had heard the latest sensation. 

44 No, what is it, Mr. Roker? ” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


457 


“ Miss Ingledee, the heiress, disappeared last night unac- 
countably.” He narrowly watched her as he said this. May 
could not conceal some agitation at the startling intelligence. 
u Disappeared? How? ” 

“ She has gone, run away from home, that’s all. There 
is an evening paper containing a brief account of the affair.” 
He pulled the paper from his pocket and handed it to her. 

“ What is the cause of such strange conduct on her part, 
Mr. Roker?” 

“ Nobody seems to know. It may be domestic difficulties, 
maybe there is some other reason.” 

May was completely bewildered. Roker, however, had 
learned, first, that May Bryce was in love with Tom Nor- 
well, as he was almost assured beforehand; second, that she 
recognized Miss Ingledee as a rival, and feared her moreover, 
as he had suspected; third, that she was ignorant of Nor- 
well’s real whereabouts; lastly, he could rely on her as an 
active ally of his own. Roker finally took his leave, and 
May perused the provokingly indefinite article in the paper. 

Alice came in and together they reread it, but they were 
unable to solve the mystery. May scarcely knew whether 
to be secretly pleased at her rival’s disappearance or not. 
Suddenly her eye caught the statement that a hack man had 
driven the young lady to the Pennsylvania railroad ferry. 
With alarm she thought of Nor well’s trip to Pennsylvania, 
his sudden departure, his hasty leave-taking of the night 
before, and his refusal to tell her where he was going. “ Oh, 
Alice, read that.” She turned deadly pale, and would have 
fallen had not Alice caught her and led her to a chair. Alice 
glanced at the ominous line, then said softly: 

“ Poor child, I see it all now. My brother has your heart, 
and is not behaving well. He has failed to keep his promise.” 
As May attempted to interrupt her, she went on: “ I see it 
all; you would apologize for him.” 

“ Do you think — that — he would do that?” said May 
faintly. 

“ No, May; calm yourself. He would never elope with 
that girl. It would be madness, knowing what Mr. Ingledee 
is. He has not done that. It must be merely a disagreeable 
coincidence. Arthur may know more of his trip. I will send 
for him.” She sat down and hastily wrote a note. 

“ Arthur: 

Please come over immediately. I must see you to-night. 

Alice Norwell.” 


458 


AN IRON CROWN. 


She dispatched this at once to Wilson’s hotel, which was 
a fashionable one up town. 

The two women sat and talked over these strange events 
and wondered. Alice succeeded in quieting May’s fears. 
Now that she shared May’s secret, Alice felt the tender 
devotion of a loving sister toward this girl who had so long 
meekly endured a great wrong. She was secretly indignant 
with her brother for his inexcusable conduct, but this was no 
time to indulge in censure. May needed comfort more. At 
last they agreed that their scare was very absurd. A thou- 
sand men might go to the Pennsylvania depot without 
explaining the object of their journey. But that was no 
evidence that each intended to elope with a woman. It 
occurred to Alice that some excuse would be necessary to 
explain her hasty sending for Wilson. She would ask him 
to tell her what he knew of Miss Ingledee’s disappearance, 
and whether there was anything later known. 

Wilson appeared somewhat surprised to find himself sum- 
moned by his lady love at ten o’clock at night, to talk over a 
matter in which she had no apparent interest beyond curiosity. 
He had very little to tell. Alice soon inquired if he knew 
the object of Tom’s visit. 

“ Has he not told you? ” 

“ No, we have few confidences on business matters now.” 

“ It is somewhat of a secret, in fact, and you ladies 
need not repeat it. He and I think of forming a co-partner- 
ship of some kind, — we scarcely know what yet. Just now 
Tom has gone to Pennsylvania to look at some oil lands we 
think of buying.” 

This explanation of Norwell’s business afforded the ladies 
inexpressible relief. Their spirits rose, they jested, chatted 
and laughed, till they fairly surprised Wilson with their 
gayety. He thought they had looked uneasy when he first 
came, in fact, almost anxious. Now they oscillated to the 
opposite extreme without apparent cause. He soon took his 
departure, vowing to himself that woman is a mulitiplied 
conundrum with a thousand answers, and wondering why he 
had been sent for at all. 

After two or three days’ reflection, Mr. Ingledee con- 
cluded that his dau£ liter’s sudden desertion of her home was 
only a caprice, like that for example of entertaining ragged 
newsboys in the Ingledee mansion. He felt sure that his 
view would eventually prove the correct one. The young 


AN IRON CROWN. 


45S 


lady would return in due time when she found that no par* 
ticular fuss was made about her absence. No young lady, he 
thought, would voluntarily surrender her portion in so many 
millions. Silas, who knew his sister better, held a different 
opinion, and had quietly put a detective agency in possession 
of all the facts, with instructions to find his sister. 

Mr. Ingledee, in his assertive confidence of always con- 
trolling the situation, which was begotten of many years of 
uniform success, was not greatly troubled by the unexpected 
episode which had occurred in his family. But a dreadful 
event was about to take place which at one blow would 
extinguish the hope of a lifetime and leave this bold, design- 
ing man a baffled, heart-broken one. 

Silas Ingledee had often entertained in regal style, on 

board the family yacht, the “ Golden Gate.” In turn he had 

numerous invitations to participate in pleasure excursions and 

festivities on board other yachts. A few days after Chetta’s 

disappearance, a young gentleman who had lately inherited 

great wealth, invited Silas Ingledee to be present with a few 

others, at the trial trip of his new fast-sailing yacht, “ Ora,” 

which had just been completed. A favorable breeze carried 

the handsome craft down the bav toward the ocean. The 

«/ 

young men were delighted with her sailing qualities. The 
Ora carried a perfect cloud of canvas, and moved over the 
water withthe grace of a bird and the instinct of a living thing. 
The masts leaned before the wind at what a land-lubber 
would have considered a very dangerous angle. Suddenly, 
while tacking, a squall struck the vessel and capsized her 
squarely on her beam ends. The great spread of sail struck 
the water and seemed to adhere to it. The vessel quivered, 
but could not right herself. The sea poured into the cabin 
and hold. All was excitement on board, but before a single 
effective measure for safety could be taken the Ora had gone 
down, leaving some twenty persons struggling in the water. 
Some clung to a boat that floated bottom up. Others sus- 
tained themselves by swimming until picked up by the boats 
of a craft that fortunately was near. Three persons were 
drowned, and among them Silas Ingledee. 

The bodies were brought to the city, and the relatives at 
once notified. Mr. Ingledee read the message announcing 
his son’s death in a dazed sort of stupor. His mental facul- 
ties seemed suspended. “ D ead ! ” he exclaimed. “ That can 
not be; my brain is not clear, it must mean well” He tried to 


460 


AN IRON CROWN. 


rouse his vision and his thoughts to a clearer perception of 
the words on the paper before him. He looked again at the 
fatal buff slip with the well-known printed head of the tele- 
graph company. The writing seemed indistinct, but gradu- 
ally grew so plain there could be no mistake. Dead was the 
awful word before him. Dead! Dead! The brief message: 
“Yacht Ora sunk, Silas Ingledee among the dead,” could 
not be mistaken. Its clear, concise, business phraseology 
seemed almost brutal. “ Dead?” he exclaimed again, half 
aloud, “ My son dead! No it cannot be. God surely would 
not take all I hold dear.” He sat for a few minutes, 
apparently incapable of action or resolution. Then he 
touched a button, and a messenger came. 

u Call Mr. Roker.” Roker came at once. 

u Roker, this needs attention. Will you kindly arrange for 
everything?” Roker read the few fatal words, and replied: 

“This is dreadful.” He looked fixedly at the message 
for a moment, then glanced at the stricken man before him, 
and said with as much kindness as he was capable of: “ Try 

to bear this terrible blow, Mr. Ingledee. I will see to every- 
thing.” 

For three days the great house lay in the silence of deepest 
mourning. The closed blinds admitted but a dim light that 
left everything in a solemn gloom. Servants glided noise- 
lessly over the luxurious carpets, and through the corridors. 
The undertaker and his men performed their duties in silence. 
Once Mr. Ingledee had gone to look at the features of his 
dead boy. He stood like a statue gazing at the lifeless clay 
before him, uttering no sound, speechless, motionless, tearless. 
The placid features of the dead, which wore a look of repose 
they never had assumed in life, were scarcely more fixed than 
the figure of the stricken parent. Then Roker, covering 
gently the face of the dead, led the father away. There was 
only this man to comfort these moments of extreme anguish. 
Only this man! And what was he? One who, bearing no 
malice toward the dead man, rejoiced that he was gone. 
Could poverty of friendship be more extreme? Could an 
expiring slave be poorer than the great millionaire was now? 
No, a fellow slave would close his eyes for love of a dying 
comrade. But Horace Roker did his duty faithfully, scrupu- 
lously, and perhaps in that his superior got all he had any 
right to expect. He was very rich in gold, very poor in the 
love of his fellow men. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


461 


Then came the funeral. The turn-out of the moneyed 
great was very large. The slowly-moving line of splendid 
equipages was a sight most solemn and impressive. The 
procession fell in and formed in the direction that it took at 
the grand ball in the same house once not many years ago. 
The long line of handsome carriages represented millions as 
it wound slowly toward the city of the dead, where millions 
avail naught, there to lay the hopes of a money king away 
forever. 

Horace Roker suggested to Mr. Ingledee that travel 
might perhaps be the best means of softening his bereave- 
ment. But the stricken man could not bear the idea of exhibit- 
ing his grief in public places amid the worry and confusion of 
travel. He deemed it best to divert his woe-burdened 
thoughts by engaging in the business of his life. In one week 
he went to the office a broken man, but still a man of definite 
and aggressive purpose. He would continue to pile up 
money for the love of it, and to give himself active employ- 
ment. There was nothing else for him to do. He could not 
in his present condition sit down and enjoy the fruits of his 
labor, because the habits of a lifetime had unfitted him for 
the quiet enjoyments and pursuits, that so well become old 
age. Still vigorous in mind and body, he must give definite 
employment to his restless activity. There was nothing else 
to do but enlarge his vaults and gather in a few more bundles 
of stocks and bonds, to own a few more railroads. Bereave- 
ment had not taught him the lesson of charity, and it would go 
hard with the unfortunate man who attempted to bar the 
way of Mr. Ingledee to the consummation of any of his plans. 

A few days after the funeral Mr. Ingledee discovered 
among his letters one that gave him a sudden start. It was 
from his daughter, and read : 

“Dear Papa: 

I have heard the dreadful news through the papers. • I know you 
will forgive me for intruding on your grief when you remember that it 
is mine, too. I have a right to share it, and I claim my right, though 
I cannot be with you to join in your sorrow. Papa, try to think every- 
thing for the best, and ordered by Him who orders all things wisely. 

Chetta.” 

He crushed the letter nervously, and thought its conso- 
lation almost a<gibe to his misery. 

“‘Try to think everything for the best.’ No, I cannot 
do that. Why should I, who have the means to gratify every 


462 


AN IRON CROWN. 


wish of a child, have my children taken away, while some 
penniless beggar is blessed with a dozen or more? I see no 
justice in it.” But his heart softened a little toward his 
remaining child. It was sweet to think that she still remem- 
bered him. Had she appeared before him then he would 
have taken her to his arms freely. The same day he gave 
the letter to Roker. It would perhaps serve as some clue to 
her whereabouts in the end. 

“ I scarcely see how,” he replied. u There is no address in 
the letter or legible postmark on the envelope, except the 
receiving stamp of the Philadelphia office.” 

“ At any rate, do what you can, Roker. Hand it to the 
Detective Agency. Home is the place for her now.” 

“ I think so too, sir.” Roker undertook this commission 
very willingly. Death had performed one-half of the work 
necessary to the success of his plans. It was sudden, awful, 
and effectual. It startled Roker as he thought of his own 
guilty wishes, but for this death he was not responsible, and 
the event was very welcome. He had now only to pursue 
the other half of the enterprise to a successful termination. 
He still hoped to be the son-in-law of a railway king. 


CHAPTER XLVI. 

AN UNENDING CONFLICT 

It is again midsummer. Some months ago Alice Nor- 
well became happy Mrs. Wilson. The honeymoon of this 
well-mated couple promises to last many months longer, and 
far beyond the conventional period. May Bryce is again in 
her distant country home. Wilson and Norwell have formed 
a partnership and are now about to set out for the oil regions 
of Pennsylvania, to make some investments heretofore al- 
luded to. 

Business was not in a healthful condition throughout the 
nation. The business men of the country bitterly com- 
plained of hard times. Thousands of laborers were out of 
employment, and thousands of employes of the great rail- 
roads were threatened with a reduction of wages. 

As Norwell and Wilson passed through Pennsylvania 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 6 3 


they saw evidences of the prevailing' distress on every hand.^ 
In the coal regions thousands of miners were out of employ- 
ment and other thousands working for starvation wages. 
The few great coal companies had gradually grabbed and 
held the fuel supply of a continent, claiming as private 
property the priceless treasures which God has stored in the 
earth as the heritage of all mankind. With equal justice 
they could claim as their own the air and the sunlight. They" 
would gladly tax those, too, if there was any way of fencing 
them in so the public could not get at them. 

Here in this region of vast mineral resources was illus- 
trated again the never-ending conflict between the people and 
the daring freebooters who would seize the people’s rights. 
It is a contest as old as history, doubtless much older. It be- 
gan in the days when kings, by “ divine right,” owned the 
persons, property, and the very souls, of their subjects. 
Divine right ! What cruel wrongs and awful deeds of crime 
have been perpetrated in the name of religion! What wars, 
what rapine, what sickening oppression! To-day men no 
longer profane the name of God by calling it to shield their 
acts of pillage. They take without a pretense, and make no 
apologies. This contest, begun in divine right, continued 
during the weary centuries when the sword made right, and 
slavery was the lot of the vanquished; in the days when 
Roman savagery slaughtered, spoiled and scourged a bleed- 
ing world that one imperial city might exalt herself in palaces, 
revel in luxury, riot in sin, and sink her loathsome carcass in 
nameless degradation. It continued while the brawling, licen- 
tious nobility of the later ages decked themselves in silks, 
velvets and jewels, and a miserable peasantry lived in hovels, 
more fit for wild beasts than men. It continues to-day when 
the nobleman of Europe thinks it just that he should own 
twenty thousand acres of land, while millions of his impover- 
ished countrymen have none, and when the money king of 
the new world thinks he should have at least ten millions, 
which means that nearly ten thousand of his countrymen 
shall have nothing but rags.* This struggle will end only 
with the human race. Our own fair land has seen it fiercely 
fought, and all the more dangerous to liberty because cun- 
ningly disguised. Our pirates fly no black flag. They are 
only ordinary peaceful citizens. They are called gentlemen. 


* Note 7. — Accumulation of wealth. 


4 6 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


They pose as men of enterprise and public spirit. No one 
will dispute the enterprise. Their first move against the 
public is to secure a valuable charter of some kind, authoriz- 
ing them to build some great public work. This exceedingly 
liberal charter is granted by ignorant, careless or corrupt legis- 
lators. And a privilege once granted is a contract which 
must be held sacred, and so the pirate sits forever entrenched 
behind the law. He piles up millions, and is now ready to 
fight successfully all hostile legislation. He is perfectly will- 
ing to litigate because he knows well the power of money, 
and the sort, of stuff juries and judges are sometimes made of.* 
He fights his taxes because it is far cheaper than to pay them. 

The French nobility, by “ divine right,” were exempt from 
taxation. The peasantry was made purposely to pay bills. 
Our pirates levy blackmail by means of a schedule of -rates. 
Overcharges and rebates are a much more genteel way than 
the old method of springing from a thicket, and levying it at 
the point of a pistol. It is more scientific, more sweeping in 
its scope, and more profitable. The highwayman of old could 
hold up only one unfortunate at a time. The highwayman of 
to-day bids a whole nation stand and deliver. Meantime the 
people look on indifferently. They have enough as a rule, 
and are apparently grateful that our genteel robbers have left 
us so much. The Roman or the feudal baron left nothing. W e 
have only to wait long enough and, emboldened by success, 
doubtless our long-headed princelv thieves will devise means 
to take all, leaving us nothing.-j* 

It may be urged that this is an exaggerated picture. It is 
true to history. Man is ever merciless to man, and unfortu- 
nately republican government has not changed human nature. 
Perhaps some one fancies he sees here the grisly specter of 
communism. It is not here. The rights of the people are 
one thing, the incendiary utterances of conspirators quite 
another thing. The latter deserve to be severely dealt with 
when dynamite is their only argument. At the same time, 
let the millionaire law-breaker receive the just penalty of his 
crimes. 

The outrages of the striking miners were to be condemned 
and regretted. An unjustifiable strike may become a crime 
when its far-reaching consequences are considered. But what 


♦Note 15. — Intimidation of courts. 
-j-Note 16.— Untaxable property. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


465 


is to be said of the soulless corporations who drove these men 
to strike! The scenes of utter wretchedness and squalid suf- 
fering witnessed in the mining regions, beggared belief and 
equaled many similar instances recorded in the over-pop- 
ulated old world. Strong men sat idle day by day, and saw 
their children cry for bread in a land where the farmer often 
burns his corn because he can get nothing for it. In hundreds 
of instances a wholesome meal had not been eaten in weeks. 
What was the cause of all this suffering? Was there no de- 
mand for coal? Excessive wealth in the hands of the few 
had engendered an excessive greed on the part of capital. 
Thousands of miles of railroad for which there was no im- 
mediate necessity had been built, greatly stimulating the iron 
trade,* and with it the production of coal. The resources of 
the country were developed far beyond the needs of commerce. 
As a consequence the great corporations could no longer pay 
dividends on their inflated capital. The coal companies agreed 
to limit production, force up the price and cut wages.* 

Let no one misunderstand the tenor of these remarks upon 
the abuse of corporate power. It will no doubt be advanced 
by the friends of these rich grabbers that railroads and other 
great incorporated enterprises are a necessity. This no one 
denies. Such persons will perhaps triumphantly point to the 
fact that a large proportion of all the railroads in the United 
States have gone into bankruptcy, and that others have never 
paid a dividend.*)* This is well understood and not disputed. 
No attack whatever is made upon the railroad system of trans- 
portation, nor upon the thousands of hard-working, honest 
railroad employes. The danger lies not in the system, but 
in the abuse of it. When it is urged that great corporations 
pay but a small per cent, on the investment it may be answered 
that the investment is largely fictitious, consisting of a large 
proportion of watered stock, which represents no value what- 
ever, and has been issued merely to conceal the enormous 
profit on the actual capital. J 

When it is urged that railroads are constantly going into 
bankruptcy it may be answered that such bankruptcy is often 
an additional evidence that dishonest men are plundering the 
road. There are more effectual ways of killing a dog than 
attempting to choke him to death with butter. So there are 


*Note 17. — The Hocking Valley strike. 
fNote 14. — Profits of corporations. 

JNote iS. — Actual cost of railroads. — Example the Mexican National. 


30 


466 


AN IRON CROWN. 


more effectual ways of robbing a railroad than to break into 
its vaults by the aid of a dark lantern and crowbar. Fast 
freight lines and other barnacle devices, extravagant salaries 
and fictitious expenses, may absorb all the earnings, and leave 
nothing: for the mass of stockholders who are not on the inside . 
Another method is to form a combination against the road, 
refuse to pro-rate with it, cut rates, drive it to the wall, and 
then absorb it into the system. These are only examples of 
what mav be done in that line. 

* Some paid agent of the railroad interest, or some individual 
who has been riding on a free pass most of his life, will doubt- 
less say here, with the air of a man who knows all about the 
subject, that the cost of railroad transportation has steadily de- 
clined in this country for the last twenty years, and is now 
cheaper than ever before. Grant it. Well, does not that 
demolish your anti-monopoly argument completely? Not at 
all. The railroads now carry for millions, where they once 
carried for thousands. Doing business on such a great scale 
they can afford to transact it cheaper. Has not the price of 
clothing, flour, clocks, dry goods, and, in short, everything else 
been reduced, too? 

But our monopoly advocate may say here that trunk lines 
with difficulty pay expenses during periods of financial de- 
pression. Let the facts speak for themselves. The New 
York Central & Hudson River Railroad, probably the best 
railway property in the world, lately issued several millions in 
bonds for purposes that really should have been provided for 
out of the earnings. Is the New York Central a poor invest- 
ment? If it is, why does the man who has for years con- 
trolled it, William H. Vanderbilt, admit that he is probably 
the richest man in the world? When a business man and 
private citizen is pinched by hard times he must squeeze 
through as best he can, or close his doors. The railway king 
has the impudence to ask the public to be lenient with him 
because forsooth his great property is not paying very well 
just now. He issues a few millions of bonds to pay his losses, 
and those bonds are an addition to the capital on which the 
public must pay interest.* A few facts o?i this question 
stand out unchallenged , even by the most active apologist of 
transportation monopolies . 

It is a fact that the government subsidies to the Pacific 


*Note 19. — Who meets their losses. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


467 


railroads were so liberal as practically to give these great 
highways to the projectors who were mainly impecunious 
adventurers. 

It is a fact that bribery was resorted to in order to obtain 
from Congress such valuable concessions. The Credit Mo- 
bilier investigation establishes this point conclusively 

It is a fact that the Standard Oil Company, whose projec- 
tors had but a few thousands to begin on, became worth mil- 
lions in an incredibly short time; that they drove nearly all 
rivals out of business, and completely monopolized the oil 
trade of the whole country. Their profits are known to have 
been at one time a million a month. 

It is a fact that Jay Gould and other Wall Street ope- 
rators have, by manipulating railway and other securities, 
piled up fabulous millions in a few years, often greatly unset- 
tling values and disturbing the financial and business interests 
of the country by their gambling operations. 

* It is a fact that railroad men who reach high places, and 
control railroad, management, invariably grow rich, while 
nine-tenths of all persons engaged in ordinary business 
ultimately fail.* 

It is a fact that the tillable portion of our public domain 
is about exhausted, having been largely granted to railroads, 
and that successive Congresses have refused to declare for- 
feited several large grants ill cases where the companies had 
not complied with the conditions. 

What is the remedy for all these evils? No remedy will 
stamp them out entirely. Diseases must exist on the body 
politic as well as on the natural body. Sometimes they kill 
the patient. But something should be done nevertheless, in 
attempting a cure. The following suggest themselves as the 
most practical measures: 

1. Provide by law for a careful government supervision 
of all transportation by common carriers, and for government 
control of inter-state commerce. 

2. Make stringent laws for the protection of the purity of 
the ballot box, and enforce severe penalties for their violation. 

3. In the case of the rising generation and future immi- 
grants, deprive the illiterate of the right of franchise. 

4. Reform the jury system, so that juries will not so 
frequently consist of blockheads and knaves. Then there 


*Note 20, — Where do they get it. 


4 6S 


AN IRON CROWN. 


will be at least grounds for hope that all offenders against 
the law may be punished, regardless of wealth or social 
standing. 

5. Public opinion must make bribe-taking as odious and 
dangerous as horse-stealing once was. Then corruption in 
official life will diminish. 

6. All intelligent citizens must take an active part in 
politics, and see that honest, intelligent legislators and incor- 
ruptible judges are chosen to manage the machinery of State. 
That machinery will not run itself. 

Leaving the coal regions sick at heart with the misery 
prevailing there, Norwell and Wilson proceeded to the oil 
regions. A new belt had just been opened, and people were 
rushing to the territory, hoping to obtain in some way, they 
scarcely knew how, a portion of this oleaginous wealth. A 
clearing had been begun in the dense fdrest, and board shan- 
ties were springing up along the streets in which stumps 
stood thickly. The whole scene reminded them somewhat 
of the rapid growth of a mining town in the Rocky Moun- 
tains. But the picturesque figure of the u rustler ” in greasy 
brown duck, with his pockets full of specimens and his mind 
full of millions, was absent, and the scene partook more of 
the activity pertaining to a commercial center. 

Norwell and Wilson soon found there was no opportunity 

for making favorable investments here. The great Octopus 

Oil Company had reached out its slimy arms and enfolded 

the entire district. It had bought or leased nearly all the 

available lands. It owned the pipe lines and, in fact, had the 

entire oil business of the countrv in its remorseless clutch. 

%/ 

Several ruined operators told very discouraging stories. One 
man had invested one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in a 
refinery at Pittsburgh. The railroads charged him one dollar 
per barrel for transporting his oil. They charged the Octo- 
pus the same, but rebated to them half a dollar per barrel. 
Unable to compete with the Octopus under such extortionate 
discrimination, — the result, beyond doubt, of conspiracy be- 
tween the trunk lines and the oil company, — he was obliged 
to close his refinery and sell out to this hydra-headed, devour- 
ing monster, which was one of the most daring and unscru- 
pulous, that ever disgraced this or any other country. This 
was no isolated case. All the rivals of the Octopus were 
treated in the same way. Over one hundred refiners were 
obliged to quit business in Pittsburgh and vicinity alone. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


469 


This great corporation, literally bursting with its spoils, even 
openly defied the State of Pennsylvania, and refused to pay 
certain taxes.* 

One of the victims, struggling under the unequal odds 
granted to the Octopus in the matter of shipments, applied 
to the offices of one of the trunk lines for special terms to 
large shippers. He received no satisfaction. Then he in- 
quired if he could get the same rates as the Octopus, provided 
his shipments were as large as theirs. The reply was, that 
the company did not care to carry oil for him at any price. 
The railroads refused cars, and the Octopus controlled the 
pipe lines. As a result, the well owner might let his oil run 
on the ground, or take the prices fixed by this monopoly. 
And yet intelligent men will deliberately pooh at the preva- 
lent dissatisfaction with monopolies, and say it is all “granger 
talk,” or the work of a crank. There is a Latin saying 
which runs thus: “What can happen to some one, may hap- 
pen to any one.” These things have happened, they may 
happen again, unless popular vigilance pi*events them. Let 
us not suppose that the liberty won by our forefathers one 
hundred years ago, and preserved at great cost twenty years 
ago, will endure for any time without care. “Eternal vigi- 
lance is the price of liberty,” and each generation has its duties 
to perform, its dangers to ward offi Shall we tamely bear this 
grievous Iron Crown of heavy rails and goading spikes, 
which a few unprincipled men are placing on our heads in 
mockery? Shall we be deceived by the essence of royalty 
because it lacks the name? 

Prospecting was going on in another district a few miles 

distant. Norwell and Wilson determined to ride there on 
% 

horseback, and look at the prospects. The country was very 
rough and thinly settled, the manners of the people most 
primitive. After riding leisurely along for several miles they 
came to a fork in the road, and were in some doubt as to 
which way led to their destination. A log schoolhouse, the 
relic of a past generation, stood near the road. Norwell 
rode up to the open door to inquire of the schoolmistress 
the way to their destination. That young lady came to the 
door in response to the call, and started back in sudden sur- 
prise. It was Chetta Ingledee. 


Note 21. — The rebate swindle. 


CHAPTER XLVII. 


THE PITTSBURGH RIOTS. FIRE AND DESOLATION. A RACE 

FOR LIFE. 

The surprise of Norwell at thus meeting his old friend in 
this wilderness was by no means agreeable. He had often 
thought of Chetta since her unaccountable departure from 
New York, and looked on her flight as another of her freaks. 
He had misunderstood her in the same way that her father 
had. Her absence had relieved him from his very embarras- 
sing situation which had daily grown worse, so long as both 
Chetta and May Bryce remained in New York. As the latter 
had been absent too, for some months, Tom experienced a 
sense of relief. It was much easier to make love bv mail. 
The matter could then be postponed when inconvenient. 
Meantime, May’s letters came regularly and she scolded him 
tenderly if his answers were delayed too long. 

The men greeted Miss Ingledee cordially, and, as it was 
just noon, she dismissed her school, so they could talk freely. 
At first she appeared embarrassed, but this feeling wore away 
as she listened with anxious interest to Tom’s account of her 
father, and his changed appearance. She wished to learn 
more, so she invited them to dinner at the humble farmhouse 
where she boarded. Here they had their horses put up and 
fed, and after dinner they indulged in a lengthy conversation. 
Norwell advised her to return home. She had intimated to 
him, partly, the cause of the falling out between herself and 
her father. He urged her that her place was with her father 
now in his loneliness, and ventured the opinion that she 
would be welcomed home if she chose to go. For herself, 
she had changed none of her views concerning the Ingledee 
wealth, but a sense of duty to her father outweighed her per- 
sonal feelings. Wilson had gone out to the stable with the 
boy to get the horses. Tom and Chetta had these few 
minutes’ conversation alone. He felt it to be his duty to urge 
her return, regardless of his own past relations to her. u Miss 

( 470 ) 


AN IRON CROWN. 47 1 

Ingledee,” he said, “ your place is at home. We all miss you 
there very much.” 

“Does any one really miss me?” 

“ Your father is very lonely.” 

Perhaps she expected a different answer, but this was 
quite sufficient, for it showed her her duty. 

“Are you quite sure, Mr. Norwell, that father really 
wishes me to go back? ” 

“Yes, he has intimated as much to me. But, of course, 
you understand that he is a proud man, and would probably 
not make any direct advances toward a reconciliation.” 

“Yes, I know that, Mr. Norwell. I will go.” 

“ It is the best thing you can do. You must be very 
lonely in this out of the way place.” 

“Oh, Mr. Norwell, I have been so lonesome. There is 
no one here who makes any pretensions to culture. I found 
it rather novel at first, listening to the droll dialect and 
homely talk of these people, but that soon wore off, and then 
I was very lonely. I felt as if life had nothing more for me, 
and the future was all a blank. I could not write to hear 
from old friends, and for a while I was actually sick. I shall 
never make light of homesickness again.” 

“I am very sorry that you have suffered,” said Norwell. 
His natural kindness of heart was touched, and there w'as in 
his consciousness a sort of feeling that, perhaps, he was not 
entirely guiltless in this matter. 

“That is all over now,” she said with a little laugh; “ I 
had a hard fight, though. If it hadn’t been for books, I 
should have gone wild. The people here have an old ency- 
clopedia, left by some relative, and the only one for miles 
around; well, I think I must have read nearly everything in 
those sixteen big volumes, commencing with Aard-vark and 
ending with Zebra. And they are very interesting too.” 
“Doubtless they think you a great scholar here.” 

“ They do. They pay me twenty-five dollars per month. 
That is five dollars more than they ever paid a lady teacher 
in the summer. But you don’t know how glad I was to see 
you and Mr. Wilson. Meeting old acquaintances from New' 
York seems almost too good to be real.” 

“ Then I may tell your father all, and say you will return? 
When, say ? ” 

“ My school closes here in three weeks. I could not think 
of giving that up, and disappointing these people.” 


47 - 


AN IRON CROWN. 


The horses were led up to the gate, and Wilson offered 
his hand to say good-bye. Then Norwell took the hand he 
had so often clasped. Her heart was beating tumultuously, 
in spite of her efforts to appear perfectly calm. She took his 
hand and retained it for a second, then turned quickly to con- 
ceal her feelings, and with a hasty good-bye, ran into the 
house. 

When Norwell and Wilson returned to the little village 
of rough board shanties that evening, they learned that the 
great strike of railroad men had at last begun. Telegrams 
were passing on the wires incessantly, reporting its progress 
at various points. Next day they continued, announcing that 
the strike was rapidly extending all over the country. At 
many points there were serious indications of riot. The mili- 
tia had been) ordered out, and United States regulars were 
embarking for the scenes of disturbance. Some of the rail- 
roads had suspended all freight trains, and, in some cases, pas- 
senger trains were not allowed to go through. 

Norwell and Wilson started for Pittsburgh on the second 
day of the strike. Arriving there without interruption they 
found the excitement intense. Dispatches poured in from all 
parts of the Eastern, Central, and Western States announcing 
the progress of this, perhaps, the greatest strike in history. 
Fiftv thousand railroad men had struck. The criminal classes, 
burglars, thieves, pickpockets, and vagrants, were taking 
advantage of the prevailing disorder, and pursued more boldly 
their dangerous trades. They only waited for an outbreak till 
they could pillage openly. Riots had already taken place in 
several cities, though, fortunately, with very little bloodshed. 
The Governor of Pennsylvania was absent on the Pacific 
Coast. Telegrams had been sent urging him to return 
instantly, and he was now on the way, flying eastward by 
special train at the rate of forty miles an hour. 

General Hancock had ordered a detachment of United 
States troops to proceed westward from Philadelphia. A 
regiment of Brooklyn militia was slowly working its way 
westward on the Erie railroad from New York City. A 
regiment of Philadelphia militia reached Pittsburgh to aid 
the local force. Against these strangers there was an intensely 
bitter feeling. In a street affray the soldiers had fired into 
the crowd, among which there were thousands of respectable 
citizens. The excitement grew until a majority of the people 
were intensely incensed against the great corporations. The 


AN IRON CROWN. 


473 


Octopus Oil Company was denounced in the most severe 
terms, and talk was freely indulged of burning its vast prop- 
erty scattered all over Western Pennsylvania. 

The city of Pittsburgh was in a dreadful situation. She 
was exposed to the vengeance of an excited mob, consisting 
of thousands of determined men, some with grievous wrongs 
to redress, others secretly rejoicing at this sudden and unex- 
pected prospect of pillage. The community momentarily 
feared a horrible outbreak. All the materials for a tremen- 
dous explosion were at hand; the train was carefully laid; it 
needed only a spark to ignite it, and that spark soon fell in 
the fatal spot. The feeling against the militia grew hourly. 
A detachment of them was fortified in the roundhouse. It 
was suggested to burn them out. No sooner was the word 
dropped than thousands of throats took it up. * “ Roast the 
butchers,” was heard on every side; but it was no boys’ play 
to approach within close range of those rifles. 

The crowd was eager for the work of destruction, and the 
great depot was fired by the frenzied mob. The fire spread 
rapidly. The lurid flames shot high in air, while dense 
masses of smoke from burning coal and oil cars settled over 
the “ Smoky City,” giving its already soot-darkened atmos- 
phere an almost funereal blackness. The fire licked up the 
long rows of freight cars on the side tracks with its great, 
red, hissing tongue, like a living, hungry thing. It spread to 
the sheds and freight houses, which curled, crackled, grew 
white hot, and disappeared like card board before the fiery 
blast. It gnawed into the very earth, and ate out the buried 
oaken ties. The heavy steel rails of the track twisted and 
writhed under their fiery baptism, and curled into fantastic 
shapes, like wriggling serpents. The lurid flames, the blind- 
ing, suffocating smoke, the blistering heat, the crash of falling 
buildings, and the derisive shouts of the maddened mob, all 
formed a scene that was truly infernal. The crackling flames 
and intense heat drove the people to a respectful distance. 

Thieves were busy pillaging cars that had been broken 
open. Costly goods of every description were carried off by 
the armful , by these wreckers. Heavy articles were left to 
be consumed by the rapidly advancing flames. The fire 
department was helpless. Men caught the bits of the horses 
while the mob cut the traces and left the engines standing 
useless. The frightened horses reared and plunged, firemen 
swore, women screamed, and the mob yelled in triumph. 


474 


AN IRON CROWN. 


The police were useless; to interfere only involved the danger 
of sacrificing life in vain. And still the volcano of flame 
rolled steadily heavenward with a leaping and crackling and 
hissing that was most appalling. A city on fire is a sight 
more awful than any convulsion of nature, unless it be a 
great earthquake. 

The unfortunate militia cooped up in the roundhouse had 
already suffered greatly under the burning J ul y heat. Now 
they were in danger of being suffocated like a wild beast * 
at bay in his den. Though at a distance of several hundred 
feet from the burning depot the heat could be plainly felt 
through the glass of the windows. The smoke was suffo- 
cating. Threats of burning them out were freely made. 
Several flaming cars of oil and combustibles saturated with 
petroleum, were shoved down the tracks toward the doomed 
building. But fortunately the fire did not spread in that 
direction, and the roundhouse was safe, for nobody cared to 
venture under the grim muzzles of several hundred rifles. A 
cannon loaded with spikes and bolts was now trained on the 
building with the intention of battering it down. But the 
besieged were so vigilant that the piece was not fired a single 
time, though half a score of dead bodies strewn around it next 
morning testified to the bravery of the mob and the horrors 
of that night-attack. Prudent people wisely remained in- 
doors as far as possible. A portion of the mob, consisting of 
those who had nothing to lose and envied all who possessed 
property, were growing insolent. A carriage was greeted 
with hoots of derision. A broadcloth coat and silk hat were 
pretty sure to receive insult. Several individuals who were 
indiscreet enough to wear these very palpable evidences of 
aristocracy (in the eyes of the mob) narrowly escaped vio- 
lence. 

Thousands of people were at the corners of streets and 
wherever a good view of the great conflagration could be 
obtained. In these crowds there was the usual amount of 
talking, bantering and discussion incident to an excited gath- 
ering of all kinds of people. The mob now consisted of 
many in no way identified with the railroads or the strikers. 
Some sympathized with it, others denounced it; some of this 
street discussion was good-humored, some of it loud and 
angry. 

Norwell and Wilson stood in one of these groups at a 
distance of several blocks from the center of the mob. Sud- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


475 


denly an uproar was heard. There was loud shouting and 
a movement in the crowd. * Then an open carriage dashed 
rapidly up the street. There were loud shouts, “ Hang 
him,” “Down with the old robber,” “Swing him up,” 
“ Stop the carriage,” and so forth. The frightened driver 
lashed his terrified horses to full speed up the incline over 
the hard, cobblestone pavement. As the carriage passed Nor- 
well he recognized its occupant, who sat bolt upright and 
looked defiance at the people in this hour of danger. It was 
John Ophir, the great railway king. Ophir had been out on 
a trip inspecting some of his railroad property and had been 
delaved bv the strike in Pittsburgh. With his usual daring 
and disregard for public sentiment he had determined to see 
what the mob looked like. But unfortunately for him the 
illustrated papers had made his face well known to the people 
all over the country. Some recognized him. Instantly the 
cry was raised: “ Ophir, Ophir, hang him! lynch him!” 

As the carriage came directly opposite the spot where 
Norwell and Wilson stood, two or three strong men sprang 
into the street, seized the bits of the horses, and at great risk 
succeeded in stopping the animals. The driver meanwhile 
plied his whip furiously and accompanied the blows with 
savage oaths. The horses plunged and tried to escape from 
the men, the mob shouted and all was confusion. While the 
attention of the people was directed to the struggling men 
and horses, Ophir jumped from his seat to the ground, darted 
through the door to a narrow passage between two buildings 
and disappeared. Norwell and Wilson sprang into the pass- 
age, shutting the door and bolting it behind them. Some on 
seeing this latter move cried out, “ There they go,” “ Stop 
the villains.” 

Ophir, reaching the alley in the rear turned, seeing that 
he was closely pursued, and recognized Norwell. 

“ My God, Norwell, is it you! Have mercy. Would 
you see me torn up by that savage mob? Spare me and I 
will make you a rich man.” 

“ Silence!” said Norwell, “ this is no time to talk by-gones. 
We will try to save you. Here! Change hats.” Quick as 
thought Norwell seized Ophir’s glossy silk hat and placed 
his own soft crush hat on the other man’s head, jamming it 
down over his eyes. “ Now, run for life! Out at the far 
end of the alley! Quick!” 

Ophir needed no second bidding. Though unused to vio- 


47 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


lent exercise, he made exceedingly good time through the 
alley. Norwell gave Ophir’s silk hat a fling over a wall out 
of sight. “ Now, Wilson, run for it.” 

“ But they will hang you sure if they catch you.” 

“ Better one than two. Think of your wife. Go! I’ll 
get out some way. Through by that store there is a way of 
escape.” He shoved Wilson toward the door, which was but 
a rod away. 

Wilson darted through the board fence into the rear yard 
of the house and quietly appeared on the other street in a 
few moments, by a passage similar to the one by which they 
had entered the alley. Meanwhile the mob having no means 
at hand of breaking down the door by which Ophir had 
escaped, poured through a narrow cross alley and appeared 
in the alley where Norwell was, in a direction opposite to 
that by which Ophir had escaped. Norwell, bareheaded, 
walked leisurely back, meeting the pursuing crowd. “ Here 
he is,” rose in an angry shout. u Bring a rope.” The 
leaders of the mob closed around Norwell to seize him. He 
quietly backed against the fence and said : 

u Don’t be in a hurry. I’m here when you want me.” 
u We want you right off, I guess,” said a big man, “ and 
now we’ve got you. Where’s the rope?” 
u It’s coming,” exclaimed a second. 

u Hadn’t you better get the right man before you hang 
him ?” 

“ Captain, I guess you are the right man. That’s what 
they said on the street, any way. You are one of them 
cursed millionaires that’s bleedin’ the life out o’ the poor 
people with your railroads and oil companies and other devil- 
ish schemes of robbery. We’ve got you an’ we mean to 
keep you.” 

“ I am not the man who was in the carriage.” 

“ Captain,” said the spokesman of the mob, “ you’d better 
spend your time prayin’, fur I reckon this is about your last 
chance.” 

A rope had been obtained somewhere and it was proposed 
to lead the prisoner into the street and hang him to a tree. 
The alley was now full of men shouting, struggling, and all 
trying to get to the front to see what was going on. Nor- 
well remained cool though he realized the extreme peril of 
his situation in the hands of a frenzied mob, who could not 
be expected to listen to reason. Resistance was worse than 
useless. He must try to get them to listen to him. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


477 


“ I tell you I am not the man you are looking for. Gen- 
tlemen, for God’s sake, listen to me. You won’t hang a man 
without giving him a chance for his life, will you? I am not 
the man who was in the carriage. 

“ Oh, you’re not, ain’t you,” exclaimed several voices, 
derisively. 

“ No, I am not. I can convince you if you will only 
listen.” 

“ Give him a chance.” “ Let him sav what he’s got to 
say,” rose from the crowd. The American people are pre- 
eminently a people who love fair play. In this mob were 
some who, above the passion and excitement of the moment, 
were determined to see fair play, and let the prisoner tell his 
story. 

“ I saw that man jump from the carriage and I followed 
him through here,” said Norwell. “ But I guess he must 
have got through the alley.” 

“ You guess so,” sneered the big man who acted as ring- 
leader of the mob. “ We want facts now. If you are not 
the man, where is he? ” 

“ I don’t know where he is. But I stood on the corner 
there for half an hour before the carriage came up. Did 
nobody here see me? ” 

u That’s pretty d — d thin,” exclaimed one ruffian. u Hurry 
up boys. Let’s string him up,” cried another. Two men 
seized Norwell rudely to lead him away. His case was 
apparently hopeless, for without additional evidence he could 
make no impression on that excited mob, who, like blood- 
hounds, panted for their prey. Two men, who, mounted on a 
box got a good view of Norwell, now called out that they had 
seen him standing there with a friend before the carriage 
came up. That was certainly corroborative evidence, and the 
mob fell back a little. Norwell now continued: 

“ I can tell 3 r ou just who the man was you wanted. It 
was John Ophir.” The crowd jeered at the mention of 
Ophir’s name. Some of the later arrivals who had heard 
the first hue and cry, confirmed this statement, for they were 
present when the people had first recognized Ophir dow-n 
the street. This man clearly was not Ophir, and there was 
nothing to do but release him. “ Mighty ticklish business 
for you,” said one. “ Close shave,” said another. The big 
man said, u No offence, I hope, Captain? ” 

“ All right, boys,” said Norwell, u but I advise you to 


47 S 


AN IRON CROWN. 


find out whether a man has committed any crime or not 
before you hang him.” Then Norwell walked into the 
street with that feeling of intense relief known only to those 
who for a brief space have stood face to face with the con- 
queror of all conquerors, the invincible foe, death. 

Next day the riot was suppressed, but the destruction 
of property had extended over a territory three miles in 
length. The militia imprisoned in the roundhouse were 
released after a perilous experience, and by a forced march 
on that fatal Sunday, escaped to the country, with a loss 
of several killed and wounded. The destruction of prop- 
erty amounted to several millions. One hundred and twenty- 
five costly locomotives lay useless in this wild wreck. Only 
blackened, smoking ruins marked the scene which had lately 
been the busy center of travel and commerce. Vast quanti- 
ties of property had been stolen by the thieves. The dis- 
reputable classes had disgraced the cause of the honest 
strikers, who began the movement for the redress of their 
wrongs. One rich booty escaped them through their igno- 
rance of its value. In one spot the railroad track was covered 
by a vast sheet of whitish metal that looked like lead. When 
the burning cars had burst under the weight of metal molten 
by the intense heat, a silvery fountain had poured across the 
track and run down the gutters, mingling with the ashes 
and parched dust of the street. Thousands of feet had crossed 
and recrossed this shining mass which soon became a dirty 
color scarcely distinguishable from the soil. Norwell and 
Wilson happening along stopped to look at this metal coating 
that covered the ground. Wilson stooped and picked up a 
spray of the mass that had run into a little channel. He 
looked at it eagerly for a moment, then called Tom’s attention 
to it in a low tone. 

“ Do you see that? ” he asked, pointing to a bright scratch 
he had made with his knife. 

“ Yes, lead.” 

“Lead!” Then lowering his tone so as to make sure 
that no one could hear him, “ That is silver bullion, every 
ounce of it.” 

“ What!” exclaimed Tom in astonishment. 

“ Sh! I’ve taken many a bar of it out of the old Amazon. 
There’s at least half a million here in the street.” 

And so it proved to be. A car containing silver bullion 
had been burned, and the mob tramped over the precious 
mass thinking it lead. 


CHAPTER XLVIII. 


MR. MALLEY COMES OUT IN STYLE. A MASKED BALL. 

ATALAXTA VICTORIOUS. 

The Wilsons purchased an elegant home in a fashionable 
part of the city, though their house was comparatively modest 
compared with the residences of some of their wealthy 
Fifth Avenue neighbors. They had bought and furnished a 
place, keeping in mind the real comforts that may be derived 
from judicious use of wealth, rather than any factitious appur- 
tenances that appeal only to the eye. There was nothing 
lavish, nothing bizarre. True, it was the home of a million- 
aire, but every detail of the interior indicated that it had not 
been the owner’s design to advertise the fact that he was a 
rich man. 

As soon as they were comfortably settled in their new 
home invitations were issued for a reception. Mrs. Wilson 
was careful to invite all those with whom she really cared to 
continue acquaintance, and beyond this number invited, as is 
nearly always the case, a few persons in payment of outstand- 
ing social obligations. Among these latter were the Snickers. 
Miss Harrie had readily accepted the invitation. Since the 
giver was a millionaire no other questions need be asked. It 
was settled around the Snicker family altar (as to which altar 
see a previous chapter) that it was altogether the proper 
thing to know the Wilsons. The Miss Nor well, whom it 
was not proper to know because she could not give parties, 
was now the Mrs. Wilson whom it was eminently proper to 
know, because she could give parties. 

In the midst of her rich and fashionable company, Mrs. 
Wilson did not forget the humble people whom she had 
known when she was poor herself. She specially favored 
them by allowing them to come when they pleased, without 
the inconvenience of a full dress exhibit. She sent “ at home ” 
cards, among others, to Mary Hackett and Aunt Rhoda, and 
to Mr. Pipe M alley. The latter gentleman was slowly 

( 479 ) 


4S0 


AN IRON CROWN. 


rising in the world, with increasing prosperity. He wore 
better clothes, and persistently attempted to improve his 
speech and manners. Though he was not an extraordinary 
young man yet, only those who have been what Pipe Malley 
the newsboy was, and have afterward risen in life, can realize 
what the true self-made man has to encounter in his struggle 
with the world. To rise unaided from poverty and ignorance 
to eminence, requires abilities little short of genius. 

Mary Hackett came and brought Aunt Rhoda with her. 
The old lady who had never been in a fine house in her life, 
took a childish delight in examining the furniture and talking 
about it. She gave a start as she sat down on a great, velvet- 
cushioned, easy chair and found herself sinking into it too far, 
she thought. She leaned back, and her surprise ended in a 
cracked little squeaky scream, as she thought herself going 
clear over backward. She chose a plainer, steadier chair rather 
than trust herself to that u plaguey tiltin’ thing.” The old 
lady gazed with admiration approaching awe on a rich velvet- 
covered sofa with delicate designs in light colors, and beauti- 
fully carved woodwork. She could not be persuaded to sit 
on it at all. 

u It’s too fine, Mrs. Wilson, for my old clothes to tech. 
It must o’ cost a sight o’ money.” 

“ Two hundred dollars,” answered Alice. “ We had to 
have a few nice things, Aunt Rhoda, to show company.” 

“ I want to know! Two hundred dollars! Land sakes! 
I’ve heard father (she pronounced the a in father very fiat) 
tell how he started when he was married in Vermont seventy 
years ago. He had five dollars in money, that he laid out in 
dishes an’ pots, an’ mother hadn’t a last thing but a bed an’ 
a kiverled. My! but isn’t that pretty!” she exclaimed as she 
gazed on the sofa, and gently felt the soft, yielding cushions 
which she was afraid to press very hard lest they should never 
recover their full outlines. “ Isn’t it pretty, Mary?” 

“It is very beautiful, Auntie.” 

“ Mary, I’ve saved something all these years for you. 
When you marry, 1 can’t git sich fine things for you, but I 
won’t have it said that my child hadn’t a single thing to start 
housekeepin’ with.” 

u Never mind that now, Auntie,” whispered Mary. And 
so Aunt Rhoda spent an hour looking with childish wonder 
at the elegant things in this fine house, which was to her a 
new world. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


48 1 


When Mr. Pipe Malley called to pay his respects, he was 
dressed as he supposed, well up toward the top of the fashion. 
He wore a light-colored tailor-made suit (the first he had ever 
possessed constructed to order), new boots with very square 
toes and very lively squeak, nobby stiff hat in the latest style 
(the first of its species which had ever adorned his head), and 
a very glossy standing collar. He had carried a silver watch 
with a rolled plate chain for so long a time already, that he 
no longer considered those articles of utility and adornment 
as strong points in his make up. 

Mrs. Wilson received Mr. Malley with cordiality, and in- 
troduced him to her husband. Pipe, who felt that he was 
now about to wrestle with some of the most intricate problems 
of etiquette, was on his mettle for the occasion. But many 
a doughty warrior who has trodden his enemies under the 
iron heel of war, has fallen before that skilled adversary greater 
than himself, etiquette, who pierced his armor with a subtle 
shaft, while the boast of victory was in his mouth. It is not 
strange then that Pipe Malley fell at the very first volley. 
He committed the humiliating blunder of calling Wilson 
“ Mr. Malley,” as he took the host’s hand, saying: u Happy 

to know you, Mr. Malley.” He had rehearsed this scene 
over and over at home, picturing to himself the social triumph 
he was about to achieve, and this was the mortifying result. 
He blushed scarlet with mingled humiliation and anger at his 
own awkwardness. 

But the host and hostess soon put him at his ease by their 
cordial manners. Pipe had taken the big easy chair. Unlike 
Aunt Rhoda, he had no misgivings on the score of its land- 
ing him heels over head backward. Under pretense of mov- 
ing, he stealthily teetered in it to see how far he could sink 
into the velvety, yielding seat. The conversation was spirited, 
though for a time Mr. Malley got his verbs and subjects at 
hopeless variance, and flung adjectives and pronouns round in 
wild confusion. But his speech improved, as he grew more 
self-possessed. Alice asked him about his mother. 

“ Oh, she’s first rate. Mother’s pretty stanch for an old 
lady.” os 

“ You have a brother, I believe,” said Wilson. 

u Yes, we’re twins.” By dint of perseverance and after 
many signal failures Pipe had learned not to put himself in 
the plural as twins, and was trying to have Quill achieve the 
same accomplishment. Notwithstanding Pipe’s persistent 

3 1 


AN IRON CROWN. 


48 2 

efforts, Quill had not yet mastered this nice distinction of lan- 
guage, and occasionally delivered himself of the statement: 
a I’m twins,” when the subject of relationship was brought 

up. 

44 How is your brother? He works with you, I believe?” 

u Yes, Quill works for the firm. Oh, he’s tip-top, thankee; 
nothin’ ever ails Quill.” 

Mrs. Wilson asked Pipe about business. 

44 Well, it’s tolerable, not exactly rushin’. Oh, business is 
all cut up, but we’re doin’ an’ improvin’ business, an’ I call 
that something.” 

44 That is a great deal, Mr. Mallev.” 

“We’ve moved, Mrs. Wilson. We’ve got four rooms 
now instid o’ two. I says to mother, 4 Mother, I don’t care 
a cent for style, but I do like solid comfort.’” Then glanc- 
ing around the room, he continued: 44 You folks have got a 

pretty slick lay out here, I tell you what.” Mr. Wilson 
smiled very perceptibly, till a look from his wife seemed to 
curtail in some degree the dimensions of his mirth. He 
replied : 

44 Oh, yes, we shall contrive to get along. Mrs. Wilson 
believes in solid comfort, too.” 

Soon after Mr. Malley took his departure, highly pleased 
at receiving an invitation to call again, and bring his brother. 
For the latter he apologized, saying that Quill didn’t 44 go 
much on society.” Pipe Malley went home, feeling exceed- 
ingly well pleased with himself and toward the world in 
general. The future was very bright for him. He was pros- 
perous financially and socially. With a calling acquaintance 
on Miss Ingledee and the Wilsons, he should like to have 
any one dispute the fact that he moved in good society. 

Miss Ingledee had also called on Mrs. Wilson, and the 
call had been duly returned. These exchanges of courtesies 
had been conducted with punctilious formality. They gave 
recognition to the fact that an acquaintance existed between 
the two ladies, and they indicated still further what both were 
not likely to forget, that no special friendship existed between 
them. The ladies were studiously polite, and each expressed 
a wish that the other might call again. And they were not 
hypocrites. Neither had a thought of deceiving the other, 
for it was evident they understood each other. 

Again May Bryce is in New York. She stops most of 
the time with her very dear friend, Mrs. Wilson. The Prairie 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4 S 3 


Flower is no longer the happy girl that we first knew on whose 
fair face had never rested the shadow of a care. She has 
grown more womanly, more thoughtful. The rosy cheeks 
are a trifle thinner and paler. Her eye appears almost unnatu- 
rally b right, and the white has a pearly luster. Tom Norwell 
says she is prettier than ever, and she believes it because he 
says so. But a careful observer might not coincide in the 
lover’s roseate statement. Mrs. Bryce might think differently, 
for what eve is like that of a mother who holds her child 
dearer than all other earthly things. Mrs. Wilson, whose 
heart goes out toward her best friend, can see in May’s face 
the evidences of troubled thoughts, of something that ap- 
proaches care and anxiety. 

May’s love has not brought the perfect happiness that most 
girls expect to find in this delightful phase of their experience. 
The views of romantic young ladies are too exalted, for noth- 
ing in this world is perfect, and even love falls short of per- 
fection. The months have slowly crawled into years. Her 
lover is neither hot nor cold. He is very gallant, very kind, 
very procrastinating. She does not doubt him, because he 
has told her they will be married as soon as he makes a little 
more money, though that time seems now as far distant as 
ever. Meantime, the rose is fading from her cheeks and the 
welling spring of happiness that once overflowed in her heart 
is slowly subsiding. She can only wait and hope. 

Mrs. Bryce has long felt secretly anxious about her daugh- 
ter. She even wished to have the engagement broken off 
at once, but Mr. Bryce thinks her fears groundless. His 
faith in Norwell remains unshaken, and he predicts that every- 
thing will come out all right yet. They agree, however, that 
May is not strong, and that perhaps another visit in the East 
might do her good. Having particularly cautioned her sister 
and Mrs. Wilson that May must be well taken care of, Mrs. 
Bryce consented that she should again go to New York. 
Her father had leased the farm for a term of years, intending 
to travel and take a little enjoyment for awhile. The old 
folks had planned for themselves and May a trip to Cali- 
fornia to visit a brother of Mr. Bryce’s, but to their surprise, 
May preferred to go East instead of to the Pacific coast. 

“Well, Mary,” said Mr. Bryce, “you see why the child 
prefers to go to New York. John’s folks would all be stran^ 
gers to her, so let her have her own way.” Thus it was 
settled, and now three thousand miles separate the parents 
from their child. 


4 8 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


Miss De Furrier had concluded to give a masquerade party. 
A masked ball is a little out of the ordinary course of events. 
To the thousands who have never participated in such an 
affair, it is a decided novelty. But, really, there should be no 
novelty about it. Life is for many a continual masquerade. 
Nature has given to most of us two faces, one for the world 
to look at, one that we dare not look upon ourselves. 
It is a truism to repeat that the sinner often wears the mask 
of a saint while doing the devil’s work. In fact, there is un- 
questionably an erroneous idea prevalent concerning the make- 
up of the latter personage. Instead of being got up chiefly 
in horns, hoofs, tail and a very forbidding countenance, his 
majesty, beyond doubt, knows the latest style and dresses in it. 
His raiment is of the best, his jDoliteness perfection, his smile 
most affable. He moves in good society, frequents the fash- 
ionable resorts, keeps right up with the times, and is, in short, 
a devil of a good fellow. It was a most facetious wag who 
clothed the devil in horns and an odor of brimstone. 

The false friend wears the mask of sodality, lifting it be- 
times to wag the tongue of slander. The traitor often wears 
the mask of friendship closest after he has sold you, and has 
the money in his pocket. The ingrate wears the mask of in- 
jured innocence while repaying benefactions with neglect. 
The coward, too, flaunts the lion skin and swings the club of 
Hercules, a most comical antic, when the presence of real 
danger would cause his frightened little soul to cower trem- 
bling in its darkest corner. 

With this perpetual masquerade of real life going on 
around us, there would seem to be little occasion for any 
artificial bal masque, even as a diversion. It would afford as 
much entertainment to a thoughtful person, and far more 
profit, to enter any large assemblage, and study the every- 
day masks of the people there. Here is a gay gallant mak- 
ing himself agreeable to a finely-dressed, beautiful woman. 
What is his second face behind the first? What does she 
conceal beneath so fair an exterior? Here is a man who 
makes conspicuous the tact that he is a very honest man. 
Perhaps he paints on his mask the sign, “ Square dealing.” 
What lurks behind that specious outside? Here is a serpent 
in the guise of a man pouring honeyed words into the ear of 
a foolish, unsuspecting girl. There, under the very fashiona- 
ble mask of respectability, promenade Misery, Want and 
Death in the person of a millionaire brewer or distiller, who 


AN IRON CROWN. 


4*5 


has built a towering 1 pyramid of wealth on the poisoned bodies, 
ruined souls and blighted homes of his fellow-men. Be very 
courteous to him. He is I'esftectcible. Shun his victim, the 
reeling, besotted drunkard; he is not respectable. 

Miss De Furrier had not invited “everybody,” for she 
disliked a crush, and this was a party for enjoyment. Many 
of our old acquaintances were present, among them Miss 
Ingledee, the Wilsons, young Mr. Brownell, who, strange to 
say, was not abroad, Mr. Frederick Snicker and Miss Snicker, 
Miss Bryce, Mr. Roker, Mr. Hickley and others. Obedient 
to her mother’s advice, May was not going a great deal into 
society, but she wished very much to see a masquerade, and 
so accepted this invitation. 

It was indeed a brilliant sight to behold the gay maskers 
in costumes that represented the people of nearly every age 
and nation. There were kings, queens, knights, warriors, 
pages, savages, shepherds, historical characters, mythological 
personages, and a host of miscellaneous damsels and young 
men in every imaginable conceit of mask and costume. 

Arthur Wilson personated an officer of the Continental 
army, Mrs. Wilson a lady of the same period. Miss Snicker 
tripped lightly as a fairy. Fred Snicker was a knight in 
armor, and looked very formidable in coat of mail, helmet 
and greaves. His legs perhaps did not fill the latter as well 
as might have been desired, but his manly breast heaved 
under the influence of stays and plate armor in a most heroic 
fashion, that looked almost “abwupt.” Tom Norwell at- 
tracted a great deal of attention as a “rustler,” clad in brown 
soiled duck, with belt, knife and pistols of formidable pro- 
portions, rocks in his pocket, and a pick on his shoulder. 
Miss Bryce was a flower girl, Mr. Roker a haughty Span- 
ish cavalier of the sixteenth century. Miss Ingledee attracted 
general attention in a classical flowing costume with sandals, 
bow and quiver, and a laurel wreath on her head. At her 
side during the grand march around the saloons was a beau- 
tiful greyhound, — a decided innovation on such occasions. 
Many were the guesses as to whom this huntress personated. 
Most of them were in favor of Diana, but the big grey- 
hound set the guessing all at random. She evidently was not 
a conventional Diana. The greyhound symbolized swift- 
ness, the laurel victory. She was Atalanta Victrix, the swift- 
footed maiden of old. 

A few days before Mr. Roker had banteringly suggested 


AN IRON CROWN. 


486 

to her that they go as a classical couple, mentioning Pyramus 
and Thisbe and Pygmalion and Galatea. Miss Ingledee did 
not choose to adopt the suggestion at the time. Still she had 
selected a classical subject. Mr. Roker might now, if he 
chose, play the role of Meilanion, if he dared to pit his craft 
against her elusive agility, on the usual conditions that he 
should lose his head in case he failed. 

At least three persons in the room recognized Atalanta 
Victorious. The haughty Spanish Cavalier knew her, the 
broad-shouldered Rustler could never mistake that figure; the 
heart of the modest Flower Girl sank as she saw before her 
the form of the rival whom she feared. That rival appeared 
before her in the garb of a conqueror, and took her place in 
the grand march as proudly as the Roman general rode amid 
the splendors of a triumph at the head of his hardy legions 
preceded by the spoils and the unhappy vanquished. May 
shuddered as she thought that perhaps the simple character 
assumed by herself compared with the bold one of Atalanta, 
might typify her own situation in comparison with that of 
Chetta Ingledee. She tried to laugh off the disagreeable 
thought, which was very foolish, but it persisted in returning 
unbidden, like an importunate but disagreeable suitor. When 
she saw the Rustler offer his arm to Atalanta, and take his 
place on one side, while the beautiful greyhound walked at 
the other, then her heart sank, and her unpleasant thought 
became a presentiment. There was no more pleasure for her 
that evening. In silence she took the proffered arm of a 
jolly monk of the Middle Ages, and joined the gay proces- 
sion which, in spite of herself, she imagined as a funeral pro- 
cession marching slowly toward her own grave. At this 
gruesome thought she shuddered so violently as to surprise 
the jolly monk, who inquired if she were ill. 

The evening seemed interminable to May, and she felt 
a great relief when the festivities drew to a close. Horace 
Roker was still disposed to play the cavalier, and after the 
unmasking was very attentive to Miss Ingledee. Nor well 
noticed that his Prairie Flower was unusually taciturn on the 
way home. In reply to his question how she had enjoyed 
herself the answer was simply that she thought most of the 
parts very well performed. She had not a word as to her 
own enjoyment, and he thinking her tired, relapsed into 
silence also. 

May retired that night very nervous and dejected. She 


AN IRON CROWN. 


487 


lay thinking for an hour or more. Sleep was impossible. 
She rose, lighted the gas, and read over for the third time a 
long letter from her mother. As she perused that descrip- 
tion of the tropical beauties of Southern California, with its 
luscious fruits and winter flowers, she longed to be there with 
her dear parents, far away from the anxieties, worry, and 
artificial glitter of this great city. A sense of utter loneli- 
ness came over her, and burying her face deep in the pillow, 
she wept like a child. 

By degrees her troubled thoughts grew calmer, and she 
felt as if she could sleep. But try as she might, slumber 
would not come. Her busy brain ceaselessly wove all sorts 
of incongruous images, which blended themselves in unending 
variations. She tried to devise some plan by which she could 
surely keep her lover all to herself, but each scheme for a 
moment seemed practicable, and the next moment very 
absurd. Again and again the grand march passed before her 
eyes, close them as she would, and she shuddered as a fleet- 
ing fancy suggested a hearse at the head of the procession. 
She grew vexed with herself and tried to reason herself into 
a calmer state. This pandemonium was the height of 
absurdity. By an effort of the will she would bid it cease. 
But it would not cease at her command. It was very foolish 
to attach any importance to Norwell’s selecting Atalanta as 
a partner in the march. It was the right of any gentleman 
to select any lady before unmasking. But why had her 
lover’s eyes been keen enough to recognize Atalanta among 
all these people in such a variety of costumes? Why had he 
not preferred the Flower Girl? Her heart grew sick as she 
thought of the possible answer. 

After weary hours May fell into that restless mental con- 
dition that is neither sleeping*nor waking. She was conscious 
that she was not asleep, for her brain still wearily wove fleet- 
ing shreds of indistinct ideas into absurd combinations, and 
yet she was not awake, for she was no longer fully conscious 
that she ought to go to sleep. After an indefinite period of 
this wearying mental condition she woke with a start, and sat 
bolt upright in bed. “ What do you want?” she asked in 
alarm. There was no answer, and she saw by degrees in the 
indistinct light that no one was in the room. She had clearly 
seen standing by her bedside Atalanta Victorious in an atti- 
tude of scornful triumph. 

In her first alarm she thought of calling Alice, but on 


4 S8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


reflection concluded it was best not to do so. She would 
have to explain the cause of her fright, and her pride 
revolted at the idea of divulging her dire presentiments that 
reflected on the loyalty of a lover, and would only pain his 
true-hearted sister. She opened wide the window and let 
the cool night air stream in. Then she grew calmer by 
degrees, and finally felt a sense of cold. Again she sought 
her pillow and was soon in a deep, heavy sleep that was 
almost a stupor. 

Mrs. Wilson and May breakfasted late next morning. 
Arthur had already gone down town to the office, he and 
Norwell having lately engaged in the business of stock 
brokers and money lenders. Mrs. Wilson had lately ex- 
pressed fears to her husband concerning the condition of 
May’s health. She felt that the girl was unhappy, and 
hinted that perhaps her love affairs were not in a satisfactory 
condition. She blamed her brother in spite of her natural 
tendency to shield him in all things. Wilson thought it best 
for her to say nothing to Tom, and leave all to the parties 
interested. So it was agreed that nothing should be said for 
the present. But when May came down to breakfast look- 
ing tired and pale, with no appetite for the most tempting 
viands, Mrs. Wilson determined to speak. 

44 May, I fear you did not rest well last night.” 

“No, I think I was too tired to sleep.” 

44 You are not well.” 

44 It is nothing serious, Mrs. Wilson, but I must not over- 
tax myself again with these late parties. They tire me very 
much.” 

44 May, you are not happy. Has Tom been neglectful? 
I will speak to him if you wish.” 

44 Oh, no, no!” exclaimed May. 44 You must not do that. 
Tom is very kind. I do not expect him to give up society 
entirely for me.” 

44 1 know you are not well,” persisted Alice. 44 Had you 
not better consult Dr. Barnet?” 

44 Really, Alice, you are very kind, but I assure you I am 
not so ill as that.” 

She really believed that nothing ailed her beyond the 
absurd fancies of the night, which the daylight would dispel. 
That day she wrote a long letter to her parents, telling them 
a great deal about the masked ball and but very little about 
herself. No news is bad news, for people cannot conceal 
happiness, let them try never so hard. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


489 


Mr. Horace Roker went home from the party feeling 
more than usually well satisfied with himself. His wooing 
was progressing satisfactorily, he thought. He was a regular 
caller at the Ingledee residence. Since the death of Silas, 
Mr,, Ingledee had appeared to confide in him more fully than 
before. He anticipated no trouble in that direction. He had 
kept up his acquaintance with May Bryce and felt sure that 
she and Norwell were engaged. After reflection, Roker con- 
cluded that his affairs would never be in a more promising 
condition. He determined to learn his fate. 

With this object in view he called on Miss Ingledee a few 
evenings after Miss De Furrier’s ball. They had the usual 
talk about society events, the theaters, and current topics. 
Roker sang well, and as Miss Ingledee was very fond of 
music she often played accompaniments to his voice. Music 
was about the only thing in which these two had congeniality 
of tastes. They had sung more than usual and talked a great 
deal on a variety of topics. It was growing late, and still 
Roker lingered. At last he plainly asked her to be his wife. 
vShe did not blush and appear confused or surprised. Her 
answer was brief, frank and unequivocal. She did not love 
him and could never marry him. 

He had hardly expected a positive yes at once, and was 
not willing to accept no. Assuming his most agreeable 
manner, he was prepared to urge his claims. 

“Love,” he said, “is perhaps slightly conventional in its 
nature. That will all come in due time. I can give you the 
highest guarantees of my standing, but, of course, they would 
be superfluous. I am highly respectable, I move in the best 
society, I flatter myself that I have some degree of culture, I 
have excellent health and perhaps a reasonable degree of 
beauty, though, of course, that counts for nothing in a man,” 
he added deprecatingly. 

“ Mr. Roker, it is unnecessary to recapitulate these things. 
I understand them all.” 

“ Are such things not to be considered in matrimony as 
well as in other important contracts?” 

“ I suppose so. But a man may be all these and yet lack 
the qualities which a woman loves best. He may be respect- 
able, cultured, and faultless in manners, and yet” — she hesi- 
tated. Though she had never encouraged this man to place 
himself in the embarrassing situation where he now was, 
she pitied him and would be easy with him if he would only 


49 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


let her. But he waited for her to go on, and embarrassing 
as it was, she was obliged to do so. 44 A man may be all 
these, and vet a woman wants real love in return for love.” 
He took up the thought which she had not fully ex- 
pressed. 44 I understand you. Perhaps you may think me 
heartless . That would be very proper, seeing that you have 
my heart.” She did not smile at this feeble little pun, but 
waited for him to continue. 

44 I assure you, Miss Ingledee, that I am by no means 
heartless or indifferent as you think me. I have my feelings 
the same as other men; I can appreciate worth in a woman 
as well as anybody, better than many.” She could scarcely 
deny this seeing that she was his choice. 44 I think love is a 
fiction, a popular humbug. It is similarity of taste that should 
be considered.” 

44 Mr. Roker, I think our conversation is assuming the 
form of argument. Love needs no argument.” 

44 Do you doubt my sincerity?” 

44 Doubtless your offer is sincere, but you admit there is no 
love in it. I have none for you. Let the matter rest there, 
since we never can be anything to each other.” 

44 Miss Ingledee, we have been friends for a long time. 
You have listened to me patiently. May I ask you yet 
another question, hoping you will excuse an inquiry which is 
of such moment to me? ” 

44 Go on, Mr. Roker.” 

44 Is your heart elsewhere? ” 

44 You have no right to ask that question, Mr. Roker.” 

44 Miss Ingledee, you have allowed things to go so far — 
please do not misunderstand me, I do not say encouraged but 
allowed — since this is the case, I believe I have a right to ask 
any question that so vitally concerns myself.” 

44 For the same reason I shall decline to answer.” 

44 V ery well,” he said deliberately, 44 I shall then conclude 
that there is no other, and continue to hope that you may 
change your mind. I have only this to say in conclusion, 
that for years I have wished to make you my wife. My 
course has been consistent, and my wish sincere. There has 
been no simulation. What would vou think of the man 
who pretended love and did not feel it, — and who would 
leave the woman he thus deceived to pour a similar tale into 
the ear of another woman?” This speech touched her. She 
trembled slightly as she caught its covert meaning. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


49 1 

“ He would be very base. Yes I think — I’ve no doubt — 
I know that you have been sincere, Mr. Roker, and I thank 
you, but let us mention this subject no more.” 

“ At present.” 

“ Never.” 

He took his adieu. The shaft so cunningly sped had 
entered her heart. She had no longer any doubt that Tom 
Norwell was guilty of double dealing, and she was the last 
one in the world to see it. Worst of all, she still loved him 
dearly. 


CHAPTER XLIN. 

THE DANGER SIGNAL. 

The firm of Norwell & Wilson, bankers and brokers, 
had been doing a heavy business. Norwell gave full rein 
to his feverish desire to get rich in a short time. His 
last venture in Chicago having been a very lucky one, 
he fully believed that in a few years he should again be 
rich. Wilson was more cautious, naturally, but less experi- 
enced in the methods of transacting business in New York. 
He was guided largely by Norwell’s advice, though at times 
he had serious misgivings as to the outcome of some of their 
great undertakings. 

Wilson’s million dollars in cash had mostly disappeared in 
loans and various other channels. Instead of cash the vaults 
of the firm were literally crammed with railroad and other 
securities. Among the rest was a large block of u People’s 
Union Telegraph” stock, which Wilson had bought when 
the great philanthropist Ophir had first organized this public 
benefaction in the interest of the people, as a rival to the 
“ National Union.” The liabilities of the firm were large, 
but their assets indicated that the business was on a sound 
basis. But Wall street, like the sea, is never in absolute 
repose. Now there were symptoms that another of its peri- 
odical disturbances was at hand. 

As a man who was in confidential relations with one of 
the greatest of the money kings, Mr. Roker knew a thing or 
two of which he availed himself to make a few investments 


492 


AN IRON CROWN. 


of his own. He had not at the time forgotten that on a 
former occasion Chetta Ingledee had obtained, as he believed, 
some very important information. He also suspected that she 
was capable of furnishing this valuable knowledge to persons 
who by no means ought to have it. Saying nothing what- 
ever to any one, he determined to keep a very close lookout. 

One day Chetta came into the office as she frequently 
did to go to luncheon with her father, who took her little 
attentions as a matter of course. They were his due, but 
since the death of his son Mr. Ingledee acted like a man who 
has no other object in life than to fill it up, and that could be 
best done by pursuing still more eagerly the old passion. Mr. 
Roker was present and she exchanged with him the custom- 
ary salutations, as if they had been only casual acquaintances. 
Roker had obtained Ingledee’s permission to ask Chetta’ s 
hand in marriage, on the express condition that the father 
w^as to use no influence whatever in the case. His daughter 
might mate to suit herself, provided she did not contract a 
foolish marriage. When Mr. Roker’s suit had failed, for the 
time being at least, Ingledee thought no more about it. 
Roker soon excused himself, and father and daughter were 
left alone together. 

“ Papa, I came to take you out to lunch. We’ll have a 
pleasant visit together. You need recreation, you look tired.” 

“I am not tired, daughter. We must all grow old some- 
time.” 

“But you must not grow old so fast. Quit this office, 
and then you will grow young again.” She was bravely 
trying to appear happy, though her own heart had its sore 
disappointment which she could never confide to any one. 

“ Daughter, quitting the business would be like quitting 
life. It can not be done.” 

“ Of course you love it, papa. But where shall we go 
to-day? ” 

“ Come to think of it, Chetta, I can not go out with you 
to-day. I have an appointment at one-thirty with some 
gentlemen.” 

“ I’ll wait.” 

“It is important, and doubtless will take some time. No, 
I think you’d better come for me to-morrow.” 

“ I’m so sorry.” 

Just then a messenger boy announced Mr. Ophir and Mr. 
Chrysolite. Chetta at once withdrew with a suspicion of 


AN IRON CROWN. 


493 


what the important business was, and her anger flamed hot 
instantly. She was ashamed for her father and herself. Her 
feelings of right were outraged. She wished that she had 
never returned to enjoy this hateful wealth. But when she 
thought of her powerlessness to stay this dangerous tide that 
was undermining gradually the well-being of the community 
and of her duty to a bereaved father, she grew calmer, and 
resolved to bear her burdens and do her duty as best she could. 

Horace Roker saw her go out immediately after the 
entrance of Messrs. Ophir and Chrysolite. He too, was 
thinking. Putting on his hat as if to go to lunch, he passed 
into the street and took the same direction as that pursued by 
the young lady. In fact, he never lost sight of Miss Ingle- 
dee until she entered Pipe Malley & Co.’s store. Roker 
loitered in the vicinity to see what would happen. Chetta 
staid in the store but a few minutes when she reappeared 
with a small package of fruit in her hand and walked quickly 
toward Broadway. There she took an up-town omnibus. 
Roker still suspected that some communication would be 
made with Tom Norwell. Under pretence of business he 
went round to the offices of Norwell & Wilson, to see if 
Quill Malley brought a note. But after talking over with 
Wilson, Norwell being absent, every possible phase of the 
transaction concerning which he had ostensibly called, and 
making all possible delay, no message came. 

Late in the afternoon he went round again under pretence 
that he had forgotten to mention a particular point. Then he 
casually mentioned certain stocks, among them C. & P., Mid- 
land, Gridiron and People’s Telegraph. He learned what he 
wished to know, namely, that the firm of Norwell & Wilson 
had not put their large holdings on the market. Just as he 
was ready to leave, Quill Malley entered and inquired for 
Tom Norwell, saying he had a message for him. “ Mr. Nor- 
well has just gone for the day,” replied Wilson, “ but he will 
be at our house for dinner. I’ll give you his address, No. 19 
Amsterdam Place. Here is mine,” and Wilson produced a 
card; “if he is not at his lodgings, go direct to that address. 
If there is no hurry I’ll take it for you, young man.” Quill, 
however, was not inclined to intrust the note to other hands. 
He went out, and Roker immediately followed him. Some 
distance up the street Roker quickened his pace and overtook 
Quill, who was now a tall, strapping boy, almost a man’s 
height. 


494 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Hold on there, Malley,” he called out in a subdued tone. 

Quill gave a sudden start and shied away toward the 
other side of the pavement. Though he was grown so large, 
he had never outgrown his fear of this man who once had so 
thoroughly held him in his power. 

“I’m in a hurry,” he answered, moving on. 

“ I used to know you,” continued Roker. 

“Guess yer did,” said Quill, perceptibly quickening his 
pace. 

“You used to do some business for me.” 

“Wot if I did?” replied Quill sullenly. “There’s no use 
a castin’ them there old things up.” Quill could not quite 
free his mind from the apprehension that perhaps some of his 
other shortcomings might be “cast up,” too, and perhaps the 
lock-up might be mentioned before the interview ended. 

“ I meant no harm,” said Roker. “ I only wondered if 
you’re in the same line now.” 

“ I’m workin’ fur the firm on a poorty good sal’ry now,” 
was the evasive rejoinder. 

“ Of course it would pay well, and not be hard.” 

“ Well, wot is it anyhow? Wot are ye drivin’ at?” 

“ Do you want to make five dollars?” 

“ Do you take me fur a blamed fool? You bet I’ll make 
five dollars if I kin.” 

“You have a note for Tom Norwell.” Quill started; he 
had not seen Roker in the office. 

“ How did you ketch onto that?” 

“No difference how. I’ll give you five dollars to let me 
see it.” 

“ It’s personal an’ pertickler.” 

“ That makes no difference. I’ll only look at the hand- 
writing.” 

“ Gimme the five dollars first.” 

Quill eagerly took the attractive little slip of green paper, 
and handed Roker the note. That gentleman’s scalp darted 
forward at an alarming rate, as he recognized the familiar 
handwriting and address, “ Air. Thomas Norwell, Present.” 
Quill was a little alarmed, lest the gentleman in an unguarded 
moment should turn his head completely inside out. Roker 
looked at the address, then turning the envelope over, noticed 
that the writer had, either through carelessness or haste, left 
it unsealed, and the flap was not tucked in. 

“I want to read this, Alalley.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 495 

“ Looky hyur, Mister, that isn’t fair. You said you was 
only goin’ to look at the han’writin’.” 

“ I must read it,” said Roker, as he moved a few feet back 
into the entrance of an alley where he would not be so readily 
observed by people passing. 

“ Now looky hyur,” remonstrated Quill, as Roker unfolded 
the note. “ That’s not the square thing. She would be awful 
mad if she knowed it. You said^you wanted to see the writin’. 
People gits into trouble a openin’ other people’s letters.” 

“Not if it’s never found out. Keep still. Here’s another 
five. Now do you suppose you are ever going to say any- 
thing about it?” 

“You kin bet yer bottom dollar I hain’t. I wont never 
breathe it to a mortal soul,” protested Mr. Quill Malley, as he 
slipped the crumpled bill into his pocket beside the other. 
Roker’s argument was very short and very convincing. The 
missive, which Roker had been so anxious to see, was appar- 
ently in itself very innocent. It read simply: 

“ Mr. Norwell: 

Can you call this evening for a few minutes? I wish particularly 
to see you. I have something to tell you in which you are greatly in- 
terested. Do not fail to come. 

Chetta Ingledee.” 
“When did she give you this note?” 

“ This afternoon. She said I was to take it to the office 
before three o’clock, but Pipe sent me on a urrint, an’ I 
didn’t git there in time. So I’m takin’ it up to his boardin’ 
house.” 

J‘Here take it and be lively, and remember if anything 
happens you can be locked up for this piece of business.” 

With this little piece of gratuitous consolation from Mr. 
Roker, Quill started on his errand up town. But this inno- 
cent-looking note had not yet performed its full measure of 
mischief. Ringing the bell at Wilson’s residence, having pre- 
viously gone to 19 Amsterdam Place to find that Norwell 
had gone out, Quill Malley was met at the door by May 
Bryce, who sometimes answered the bell herself, not having 
fully settled into the city habit of delegating the most trivial 
duties to servants. 

“D oes Mr. Norwell live here? I’ve a note fur ’im.” 

“ No, Mr. Wilson lives here. But Mr. Norwell will be 
here soon. I will deliver the note.” 

Quill handed her the note unhesitatingly and took his de- 


49 6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


parture. May Bryce had never been quite herself since that 
ominous night when she started from her bed, confronting the 
spectral Atalanta. Her cheeks were thinner, and a round 
spot on each showed a faint tinge of deeper color scarcely 
noticeable. Her tender blue eyes looked larger and brighter 
than usual. She protested to Alice Wilson that she was still 
in usual health, although the latter had finally persuaded her 
guest to consult Dr. Barnet. The Doctor had carefully diag- 
nosed her case. He had subjected her chest to a most careful 
auscultation, employing the stethescope. He inquired particu- 
larly about how she rested at night, and asked casually if her 
parents were living, the state of their health, and of what dis- 
eases their immediate relatives had died. 

May remembered the fear that possessed her years before, 
and knew perfectly well the drift of* the doctor’s remarks. 
But she felt so little ailment, except an annoying sense of lassi- 
tude, that she supposed his diagnosis had led him to mistake 
her disease. The doctor on his part looked very thoughtful, 
and said little. He merely remarked that the patient’s system 
needed toning up, prescribed a tonic, advised a light, nutritious 
diet, and specially enjoined plenty of exercise in the open air, 
and retiring early. May felt greatly relieved to think that 
her case was not serious, though this impression was her own 
inference rather than a legitimate deduction from anything 
the doctor had said. Mrs. Wilson remained secretly anxious, 
and Was on the point of speaking to Tom about it a half dozen 
times, but her husband uniformly advised her not to engage 
in such a delicate affair until there seemed a necessity for it. 

The only real trouble that May acknowledged to herself, 
was the fact that her lover’s conduct continued inexplicable. 
He still called often; he was still devoted ; he sometimes alluded 
to their engagement, but he seemed no more disposed to have 
the wedding day fixed than at the time of their betrothal some 
years before. Sometimes she took what she called a “ foolish 
crving fit.” Was it any wonder that this gentle, affectionate 
girl, separated from parents, without brothers and sisters, with- 
out a single intimate friend of her own age and sex, alone in 
a great city, in spite of the bustle and gayety around her, 
should at times feel inexpressibly lonely and desolate? She 
could not seek relief from her doubts and fears by confiding 
them to her lover. She would not, for the world, have him 
know that she had any such doubts. When he noticed her 
serious, thoughtful expression, now grown habitual, she as- 


AN IRON CROWN* 


497 


sured ’him that she was a woman now, and not so giddy as she 
used to be. Neither could she confide in Alice fully without 
censuring her lover. Once in her anguish of soul, she ex- 
claimed to Mrs. Wilson: 

“ Alice, I can’t tell why, but I feel as if we never shall be 
married. Something dreadful is going to happen.” 

“ Poor dear, you mustn’t feel so. You are nervous. 
Things will be all right yet, I’m sure.” But Alice did not 
feel the confidence she expressed. She suspected Tom, and 
blamed him. Such conduct she thought inexcusable. Her 
heart went out in sympathy for her patient, ill-treated friend. 

May took the note, and recognized that it was in a 
woman’s hand. She also noticed that it was unsealed. A 
great temptation assailed her. She would like to read it. 
She blushed with shame to think that she had been guilty of 
any desire to read her lover’s private correspondence. She 
laid it on the mantelpiece in the parlor and sat down again to 
the' book she had been reading. Soon she laid the book 
down and again looked at the note. Her heart was beating 
wildly. She glanced round hastily, no one was near. She 
trembled like an aspen, not entirely at the culpability of the 
comparatively trivial act she was about to commit, but at the 
fear that she might really discover something terrible within 
that plain white envelope. On second thought she felt justi- 
fied, for was not her own happiness, her very life, in truth, at 
stake? 

She opened the letter and read its brief contents hastily. It 
stabbed her to the heart, but she did not shriek out. She did 
not go into a frenzy of passion or a paroxysm of weeping. 
She realized that a sacrifice was demanded, and all she could 
do was to prepare herself. It was a sacrifice that would 
profit no one and break the hearts of her fond parents. She 
folded the note, not knowing what she did, and placed it 
back on the mantelpiece. For a few minutes the unhappy 
girl seemed unable to think. She sat down in a chair, mur- 
muring to herself, u False, false, and I loved him so much. 
My presentiment will become a reality.” Then she rose and 
walked slowly and painfully up the broad stairway to her 
own room. The effort seemed to tax her energies. She sat 
down, gasping for breath. a How could he be so cruel?” she 
mused. a I would have died for him.” 

Then she threw herself on the bed and burst into tears. 
Dinner was now ready, but she could never go down to meet 


32 


49 8 


AN IRON CROWN. 


him. A servant came to tell her they were waiting. She 
excused herself with the plea that she had a very severe 
headache. She rose, and was bathing her face in cold water 
when Mrs. Wilson came up. 

“ May, are you not coming down to dinner? Tom has 
come.” 

“ No, I do not feel able. Please excuse me.” 

“ Shall I send you up a cup of tea?” 

“No, nothing, thank you.” 

They dined without her, and the occasion was not a 
cheerful one. The evening wore away, and still May did 
not make her appearance. Tom Nor well sent his love up 
by his sister, and then May remembered that she had not 
told them of the note. Alice came down stairs and handed 
it to him. He seemed surprised at its contents, but merely 
remarked: a An invitation for this evening. It comes too 

late, however.” 

Chetta Ingledee was disappointed that Tom Norwell had 
neither called nor answered her note. She concluded that 
perhaps he did not think it pressing, and would come at his 
leisure. She felt sure, however, that no time was to be lost. 
She was confident that there was trouble ahead, and she 
would warn her friend at all hazards. That afternoon she 
went down town and inquired for Mr. Norwell. He hap- 
pened to be in his private office and she was shown in. 

“Good-afternoon, Miss Ingledee. Take a seat. I must 
apologize for not answering your note sooner. I received it 
too late to answer in person.” 

“Too late! Why, I gave it to Quill Malley about one 
o’clock, to be delivered at once.” 

“He delivered it at Wilson’s about half-past three, and by 
mistake I did not get it till after nine.” 

“That is very strange.” 

“What can I do for you, Miss Ingledee?” 

“ I came to speak on a matter which is not exactly busi- 
ness, and yet” — here she paused. Norwell assured her that 
he was at her service whatever the matter might be. 

“ I don’t know,” she continued, hesitatingly, “ that I 
should speak at all, for I may be mistaken. Of course, what 
I say is confidential.” He sat looking at her greatly puzzled, 
but made no reply. 

“ There is going to be some kind of move in the stock 
market, I think. Protect yourselves.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


499 


“Oh!” This little interjection expressed a great deal. 
Norwell was surprised that the expected revelation was so 
insignificant and was moreover a little hurt to think that a 
woman should come in that way to advise the firm of Nor- 
well & Wilson. His feelings were something like those of 
the man who sees the woman at his side attempt to take the 
lines when the horses get frightened. He secretly resented 
the proffered assistance. 

“ Miss Ingledee, we are always looking carefully to our 
interests. I think we have our business in very good shape.” 

“ That may be, but you know, Mr. Norwell, that there 
is a great money power all around you, and money is 
merciless.” 

“ Very true. We shall observe any unusual movements.” 

“ I do not know much of such things, but I surmise there 
is some great movement afoot. I say it in confidence. I 
could tell no one else. Now you cannot be surprised.” 

“ I thank you, Miss Ingledee, very much for your trouble. 
It is very kind of you.” 

She saw by his tone that he did not thank her at all. She 
rose and left, conscious of having done her duty by her oldest, 
dearest friend. She thought of her father, too, but the 
thought of him in nowise shook her belief that she had done 
right. But her good intentions had not been well received. 
She saw plainly that Norwell resented her well-meant efforts 
in his behalf. She left the office convinced, as she never had 
been before, that Norwell had never really loved her. Her 
pride revolted at the humiliation she had endured, and she 
resolved to forget him. Tom Norwell could never be any- 
thing to her again. 

As Chetta left the office, John Wright entered. As we 
have seen, Norwell had become acquainted with him through 
Little Hackett. He was shown into the private office. He 
wished to inquire of Norwell, with whom he felt a sort of 
confidential relation, whether he had better sell out a certain 
holding of railroad stocks in which his little savings were 
invested. A friend of his who had a cousin in a broker’s 
office had bv that means heard a rumor that stocks of all 

V 

kinds might suffer a decline. 

“We will sell for you any time you wish,” said Norwell. 
“ Your stock is here in the vaults. We will give you that if 
you wish it.” 

“I don’t hardly know what to do,” said Wright, hesitat- 


500 AN IRON CROWN. 

ing. He had attempted something of which he was entirely 
ignorant. He was alarmed about the result, but utterly 
powerless to foresee consequences or avert them. He had 
done a dangerous thing. The man who puts himself wholly 
into the power of another has placed a rope around his own 
neck. He has done as foolish a thing as that man on board 
a burning ship who loans his life preserver. Wright’s little 
all was at stake, and he was anxious. The alarm of the 
ignorant and the lowly is more sudden, more clamorous, 
more unreasoning than that of the worldly wise. 

44 Do you want your money, Mr. Wright?” 

46 I can’t say, sir. How much is it now?” 
u If you sell now your two thousand will bring you twen- 
ty-five hundred.” 

44 To lose it would ruin us all. It would kill Sarah, I 
think, for most of it come by her. Mr. Norwell, what would 
you do if you was a poor man in the same fix?” 

44 Mr. W right, it is hardly our duty to advise. We simply 
follow orders. If you say sell, we sell. I have told you 
just what you can get. If you say hold on, we hold on.” 

44 1 hardly know what’s best,” said Wright, as he ran his 
fingers through his whiskers incessantly. A prolonged period 
of operating in stocks would certainly have left him whis- 
kerless. 

44 Do you want my opinion on the future of that stock?” 
44 I’d be much obliged,” replied Wright, as he pulled out 
an unusually long whisker and drew it nervously between his 
thumb and finger, watching it curl, then straightening it out, 
only to subject it to a more vigorous curling. 

44 1 think that the stock will not go lower, and is very 
likely to go higher.” 

44 Then I’ll leave it in, if you say so.” 

44 But really, Mr. Wright, I don’t say so, you must decide 
for yourself.” 

This was like asking Wright to decide a disputed point 
in Hindoo philosophy. He gave his beard another raking 
that threatened to devastate one side of his face, and help- 
lessly ejaculated: 

4( Well, I don’t exactly know what’s best. Still you 
ought to know best, and sence you say so, I guess I’ll hold 
on to it.” 

44 It’s only my opinion, understand.” 

44 Well, maybe I’ll decide by next week, an’ I’ll drop in 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 01 

an’ let you knew.” Then he passed out, with precious little 
more ease of mind than he had when he entered. At the 
door he hesitated, turned round, looked in, then looked across 
the street, then looked in again, and placed his hand on the 
door knob, and finally left, all in doubt as to what he should 
have done, and half regretting that he had not done differ- 
ently. The speculator seldom takes his ease on a bed of 
roses. 


CHAPTER L. 

MR. ROKER SPRINGS A MINE. 

When important information was to be obtained at all, 
Horace Roker usually had it. He had known for several 
days that some of the great money kings, including his 
employer, were about to make a raid on certain stocks, and 
that the bulls and bears of Wall street were to engage in 

o o 

another set to. Mr. Roker had quietly invested a large sum 
of money on his own account. He was already a rich man, 
and rapidly growing richer. He knew now, almost to a cer- 
tainty, that Chetta Ingledee was inimical to her father’s 
interests, although the intercepted note which he had read 
was so very vague in its terms. 

He determined to watch this affair carefully. If he suc- 
ceeded in detecting anything that savored of treachery on the 
part of the young lady toward her father, he would accom- 
plish an important object. If he were the first to make it 
known, he might, perhaps, avert a domestic explosion, and at 
the same time furnish a very convincing proof that some dis- 
position should be made of so dangerous and insidious a foe. 
In such a contingency, he thought there would be little diffi- 
culty in securing the active co-operation of Mr. Ingledee in 
that long cherished matrimonial scheme. Nothing was more 
natural than that Mr. Ingledee should advance the interests of 
the man who had so carefully looked to the interests of Mr. 
Ingledee. 

Roker set about the delicate and difficult task of finding 
out, if possible, what Chetta Ingledee had told Tom Norwell. 
As a first step, he would carefully sound Norwell under the 


5°2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


guise of business, as to whether the firm had disposed of cer- 
tain stocks that were to be raided. With this design, he called 
at the offices of Nor well & Wilson, and had a rather pro- 
tracted interview with Tom Norwell himself. These two 
men had always been on speaking terms, though neither 
liked the other. Norwell thought Roker a schemer, though 
never suspecting half his duplicity, and resented his attentions 
to Chetta Ingledee, even while admitting that he himself had 
no right to stand in the way. On the other hand, Roker 
hated Norwell as a dangerous rival. 

Norwell was polite, but not communicative. After con- 
siderable adroit maneuvering, Roker felt satisfied that if the 
firm had been warned they had not profited to any extent by 
the information. Then he hazarded another step by inquring 
carelessly : 

44 By the way, Mr. Norwell, have you seen our friend 
Miss Ingledee lately? ” 

Norwell looked at him curiously for a moment, and then 
replied : 

44 1 do not see Miss Ingledee often of late. Perhaps you 
could give me information concerning her. I hear you are 
rather attentive in that direction.” 

44 Well, yes, I am on a friendly footing there.” 

44 1 suppose I may congratulate you then? ” 

44 No,” disclaimed Roker, 44 hardly that yet. Sometime, per- 
haps.” Roker felt that he was on dangerous ground, and 
that any confidential communications between Chetta and 
Norwell would place him in a very humiliating position. 
But he had no fears now of any understanding between 
them, and since Norwell was off the track it was best to 
shunt him completely into the ditch. 

44 Since congratulations on such occasions are in order,” 
continued Norwell, 44 1 suppose the young lady is to be con- 
gratulated too.” 

44 What am I to understand by that insinuation?” 

44 Speaking plainly, I mean that she is too good for you.” 
44 Indeed! It is very kind of you to say so.” 

44 She is a warm-hearted, noble woman.” 

44 So much the better for the man who gets her. I sup- 
pose, Mr. Norwell, you think I am incapable of appreciating 
such qualities, since you are so good as to intimate that I lack 
them myself.” 

44 1 intimated nothing of the sort, but since you admit it, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5°3 


Mr. Roker, we will agree that you do lack them. You 
ought to keep your selfishness to yourself instead of imposing 
it on others.” Norwell was plainly losing control of his 
temper in allowing himself to be dragged into such a conver- 
sation at all. His bitterness of feeling, however, originated 
in a generous impulse, for since he could not marry Chetta 
Ingledee he would like her to get a husband who was worthy 
of her. It was Rokei’s turn now to make a terrible retort. 
H is long pent up resentment was no longer to be restrained, 
and he, unfortunately, was prepared to inflict a terrible blow. 

44 Mr. Norwell, since we are bestowing confidences, and 
speaking plainly, you will pardon me if I allude to some 
events in your own history. You have called me heartless, 
and I shall not deny it. Now what do you say of the man 
who leads a young, confiding girl on step by step till she 
loves him? teaches her by degrees to love him better than 
her own life and then deliberately inflicts upon her the most 
cruel suffering which the human heart is capable of experi- 
encing, the pangs of jealousy and neglected love? What is 
such a man? Is he heartless?” Norwell had listened in 
astonishment to what seemed like a revelation. 

44 Roker,” at length he said, in evident distress , 44 you are 
mistaken. People may have talked, but I never led Miss 
Ingledee on.” 

44 Mr. Norwell, stop and think. Is that man kind who 
wins the heart of a gentle, unsuspecting girl, a girl who is as 
pure as an angel, and who devotes her very life to the man 
she loves, and then deliberately trifles with her love till her 
poor heart turns to ashes, and the fountains of life run low — 
is that man kind ? ” 

44 My God, man! What do you mean? ” 

44 I mean May Bryce.” 

44 No! No! It is false! I have never done this. I love 
her truly.” 

44 Then you have committed one of the greatest wrongs 
man can commit against woman. You have repaid devotion 
with indifference and neglect.” 

44 It is false. I love her still.” 
u Then why do you delay marrying her? ” 

44 Mr. Roker, if you will excuse my saying so, that is my 
own affair.” 

- 44 It is not your own affair. If you ever intend to marry 
her you must do it at once.” 


5°4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


u What do you mean ? ” inquired Norwell anxiously. u Do 
not keep me in suspense.” 

“ Can you not see for yourself that the rose has faded 
from her cheek, and the elasticity from her step? Your 
betrothed has only a few months to live.” 

“ Oh God!” exclaimed Norwell, springing from his seat. 
“ Is it so bad as that? I know she is not strong. No, Roker 
you are trifling with me. This is a most cruel and cowardly 
revenge.” 

Great drops of sweat stood on the forehead of the 
unhappy man. Roker could not have inflicted a more sudden 
and awful revenge ' on his rival. Even his cold heart 
seemed to soften in this hour of triumph. He said in gentler 
tone, though every word was a knell in the ear of the 
unhappy man before him: 

“ Norwell, I have spoken the truth. Your betrothed has 
but a short time on earth. Go to her. Comfort her few re- 
maining days, for only you can do it. If I misjudged you, I 
beg your pardon for it.” 

“ God forgive me, has it come to this; I thank you, Roker, 
for telling me this. No it can not be. You are mistaken. 
Oh, how blind I have been. Why didn’t you take your 
revenge sooner? I thank you. But,” he exclaimed with the 
energy of a sudden hope, “ I’ll save her yet. She must not 
die.” 

“I hope she may recover full health,” said Roker, as he 
quietly took his hat and left the office. 

Norwell closed the door and sat down to think. This 
cruel blow had been so quick and dreadful that it inflicted the 
keenest pangs of mental agony. He saw the terrible conse- 
quences as pictured by Roker. He could not realize how they 
had been brought about. By degrees his ideas grew clearer. 
Little by little the mist that obscured his mental vision was 
withdrawn, and he saw distinctly just as one sees through a 
slowly-dissolving fog the form of a great ship which at first 
is only a spectral craft; the outline of the sails may be detected 
first; next the masts, and finally the whole view, ship, sails, 
masts, sailors, all stand out in the clear light, one perfect pic- 
ture. Norwell understood now, with painful distinctness, 
things which had passed unnoticed before, or which had 
puzzled him. 

He saw clearly why May had so often brought up the 
subject of their wedding day. He could not understand why 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5°5 


one so young should display what seemed to him such unnec- 
essary anxiety, and wish to hasten the auspicious day. There 
was plenty of time, for both were still young. His sister’s 
hints concerning long engagements were very plain now. 
The si ight loss of flesh and the brilliance of the eye that he 
thought only enhanced the beauty of his beloved, now had a 
new and terrible meaning. They were only the visible marks 
of an insidious, deadly disease. Her remark once made in 
their sweet confidence that it would kill her to lose him, sud- 
denly flashed across his mind in its true and terrible sig- 
nificance. In an agony of remorse he groaned aloud: “ It 

may be too late. How cruel I have been. I have crushed 
the life out of the beautiful flower I promised to nourish.” 
Then hope, which springs forever in the human breast, came 
to his relief. “ It cannot be too late. I will marry her at 
once, and happiness will bring her back to health. No, it 
cannot be so bad. Roker is mistaken.” 

Wilson entered to consult his partner on important busi- 
ness, but found to his surprise that Norwell could not talk 
business. He would suddenly start and ask his partner what 
he had been saying, and then relapse into an absent-minded 
condition. Wilson told him that there was a decided down- 
ward tendency in some of the stocks of which they had large 
holdings. Would it be best to sell before the decline was 
serious, and avoid dangerous contingencies? 

Norwell finally remarked that he did not feel well, and 
should go home for the day. He told Wilson to do as he 
pleased in the matter, and abruptly left the office. Wilson, 
unwilling to act alone, waited for further consultation with 
his partner. 

May Bryce, after the evening on which she had read that 
fatal note, had been ill from the effects of the intense nervous 
strain to which she had been subjected, together with the del- 
icate condition of her health that was rapidly approaching 
invalidism. Mrs. Wilson was alarmed, but concealed her 
own fears, lest she might, by exposing them, make worse the 
condition of the unhappy girl. 

After reflection there had gradually sprung up in May’s 
mind a deep indignation at the treatment to which she had 
been subjected. She resolved, at first, never to see her un- 
worthy lover again. She sat down to write to her mother, 
explaining everything, and asking money to take her to Cali- 
fornia where she could pour out her sorrows and receive the 


5°6 


AN IRON CROWN. 


sympathies of fond parents. But she had not penned half a 
dozen lines till she saw how impossible was her task. Her 
revelation would ouly break the hearts of her father and 
mother. Then her own womanly pride revolted at the idea 
of revealing the base deception of her adored lover. She 
could not do it. She tore up the letter, and went to her only 
adviser, Mrs. Wilson, for consolation. 

As May laid her head gently on the shoulder of her 
friend, she longed to confide all her sad troubles. But pride 
again said no, and besides, Alice would be very angry with 
him. She was already making excuses for him, and hoping 
there might be some mistake. She would give him one 
more opportunity to explain if he sought it. Alice caressed 
the head that leaned upon her, as a mother would stroke the 
head of a child. To her eye this gentle, fading young creature 
grew every day more and more like a child. 

“ My dear, you are not well. You are feverish.” 
u I am so weak. The least exertion makes me tired and 
short of breath.” 

“ I heard you coughing again this morning. Do you take 
your medicine regularly?” 

“ Yes, but the cough does not disturb me much, if I only 
was as strong as I used to be.” 

“ May, you must take better care of yourself. You are 
not happy. You are worrying about something. Tell me 
everything.” The tender blue eyes drooped, but she said 
nothing. “ You did not come down to meet him yesterday 
evening. Is there anything going wrong? Is it a lover’s 
quarrel? Tell me, dear.” Again that weary head sought 
the support of that sympathizing friend. The broken spirit 
sought relief in a flood of tears. 

“ There now, don’t cry, child. I’ll make it right. I’ll 
give him a good talking to.” 

“ I think I shall go to my aunt’s.” 

“ That is not best, dear. You know there is no company 
there, and you get very lonely, besides Tom — you must stay 
here.” The latter argument was sufficient. She would give 
him one more opportunity. 

“ You had better go and see Dr. Barnet again to-day.” 

“ I’ll do anything you wish if you will not speak to him 
yet — not just yet.” 

u I shall not speak without your permission.” 

May again consulted the Doctor. She had no heart to do 


AN IRON CROWN. 


507 


anything'. She answered his questions in a listless, indifferent 
wav as if she cared little whether she lived or died. She be- 
trayed no fear; he could not discover that she felt any. She 
did not ask anxiously, as patients sometimes do, whether he 
could not cure her, and could he not give her a sure cure, as if a 
doctor could save life. He was thoroughly puzzled, but, as 
usual, drew the veil of professional secrecy closely around his 
treatment. He was astonished at the rapid progress of the 
dreadful disease, which he saw at first had obtained a dan- 
gerous foothold. The temperature was high, the pulse quick, 
the cheek hectic, the breathing difficult on slight exertion. 
And yet there was no severe pain anywhere. The disease 
had made in a few days the progress which usually required 
weeks. The mental apathy of the patient greatly puzzled 
the doctor. It was in direct contrast with that hopefulness 
which usually to the very last cheers the sinking victim of 
that fell destroyer, consumption. 

The doctor prescribed some medicines; one of them was 
to relieve the cough which in a few days had rapidly grown 
troublesome. He prescribed light, nutritious diet, and urged 
the necessity of rest and quiet. He recommended riding out 
whenever the weather was fine, and urged the necessity of 
mental quiet. She asked him whether he would recommend 
the climate of California. After a moment’s reflection, he re- 
plied in the negative. In truth, May was thinking all the time 
of her lover, and not of her own condition. The old fear she 
had of consumption when a young girl, was entirely gone. 
It was swallowed up in the new fear that she might lose him, 
which to her was a calamity more terrible than death. 

Norwell, on leaving the office, went directly to the house 
of his brother-in-law, and inquired for Mrs. Wilson. Alice 
met him in the parlor, and knew at once there was a crisis of 
some kind in his affairs. 

“ What is it, Tom?” she asked breathlessly. 

“ Alice, Roker has just told me that May is ill, very ill. 
Is it true?” 

“ I fear it is, Tom.” 

“ Why didn’t you tell me sooner? How blind I’ve been, 
how heedless, how brutal.” 

u There, Tom,” she said kindly, “that is useless. Be calm. 
Let us talk rationally.” 

u But I have,” he persisted. 

u It is too late to remedy the past. The future is all we 


/ 


AN IRON CROWN. 


50S 

can look to now. Brother, forgive me for speaking plainly. 
The time is past for evasion of a painful subject. I blame 
myself that I have not spoken sooner. Are you ready to 
choose between May Bryce and Chetta Ingledee?” 

44 Why, sister, I chose long ago.” 

44 Have you always been true to that choice?” He hesi- 
tated for a few moments, then said slowly : 

“No, I have not. I have been a coward, and hesitated. 
I deserve only her scorn and contempt.” 

44 Do you still hesitate?” 

“No, I decided long ago. Does she doubt me?” he asked, 
anxiously. 

44 Does Miss Ingledee know this?” asked Alice, evading 
his question. 

44 She knows that there is nothing between myself and 
her.” 

44 Then go to May, tell her all, beg forgiveness, and make 
her happy.” 

44 Does she doubt me?” he asked again. “Tell me, Alice. 
Tell me the worst.” 

44 Tom, you have been indeed blind; she is dying for you. 
It is only in these few days I have been seriously alarmed. I 
fear we are all to blame.” He broke out into another storm 
of self-reproaches, but Alice calmed him till he was in a 
rational mood. 

44 You must not excite her, Tom.” 

Just then May entered, having returned from her visit to 
Dr. Barnet. Tom was shocked at the change in her during 
the very few days since he had seen her. The wasted feat- 
ures and languid step sent a chill of terror through him. 

44 May,” he said, simply, 44 1 have come to ask forgiveness. 
I have been very thoughtless, very cruel. If you despise 
me for it, say so. I deserve it all.” Her breath came quick. 
She tottered and would have fallen had he not caught her in 
his arms. Alice had disappeared. He looked fondly into 
those clear blue eyes as she murmured : 

44 Tom, do you love me still?” 

44 Yes, darling, and only you.” 

The color came to her cheeks and the old light of love 
into her eye. Tom Norwell thought his Prairie Blossom 
had never looked so beautiful. He used the old epithet of 
endearment. 

44 Little Prairie Blossom, how could I be so unkind?” 


AN IRON CROWN. 509 

She smiled the old winning, trusting smile of the days before 
doubt had poisoned love, and answered gently : 

u Don’t speak of it, dear. I’m very happy now.” 

But his mind was still filled with a great, terrible fear. 
Carefully he approached the subject of her health to relieve 
his anxiety. She laughed away his fears for the time. 

“ I have not felt so strong,” she said, “ as I used to in the 
country. But I am better now. I shall get along very well, 
I think.” Then hope grew strong in him again. 


CHAPTER LI. 

FACE TO FACE. LOVE’S APPEAL TO LOVE.— MR. QUILL 

MALLEY EXHIBITS ALARMING SYMPTOMS. 

On the next day Nor well and Wilson went to the office 
earlier than usual. The latter had learned through his wife 
the cause of his partner’s strange conduct on the previous 
day. Now that Norwell was again himself, Wilson had 
informed him of the dangerous condition of their affairs in 
the case of a crisis. Toward the close of the day before, 
many stocks had tumbled rapidly, and People’s Telegraph 
was in particular literally slaughtered. Wilson had relied 
on Ophir to hold up the market on the latter stock, but that 
gentleman was either unable or unwilling to do so, or wished 
it to go lower, no one, excepting Mr. Ophir himself, could 
tell exactly which. 

That day the markets opened with a downward tendency 
and things began to look very bad for the firm of Norwell 
& Wilson, whose liabilities unfortunately were heavy and 
largely matured, while their assets in the shape of a vault 
full of securities were melting away with fearful rapidity as 
values declined. The street was wild with excitement. 
Small dealers were going to the wall. Heavy institutions 
were taking every possible precaution. The firm of Norwell 
& Wilson might by throwing their securities on a declining 
market realize enough ready money to save themselves from 
bankruptcy, but the sacrifice would be enormous. Somebody 
was plainly u milking the street.” 

In his extremity, Norwell determined to appeal once 


AN IKON CROWN. 


5 JO 

more to Ingledee. Wilson did not think that any help could be 
expected from that quarter, but Nor well still hoped that his 
long acquaintance with the family might count for something. 

Mr. Ingledee was an attentive listener, but not disposed 
to step into the market for the purpose of saving others. He 
preferred to let his own stocks take their chances rather than 
risk hundreds of thousands to aid a friend. He argued that 
since Ophir, Chrysolite and others were on the other side it 
would be madness for him to attempt to enter the markets 
against them. Then Norwell knew what he might have 
known at first, that such men count friendship as nothing 
when weighed against gold. 

“ But will not your own properties suffer severely, Mr. 
Ingledee, if you do not protect them?” 

“My railway properties are too valuable to suffer any 
permanent depreciation in value. As I own my holdings 
absolutely I can afford to see them decline twentv to thirty 
points without any uneasiness. They are sure to rally, and I 
lose nothing whatever.” 

The fact was, that Ophir, Ingledee and Chrysolite had 
entered into a conspiracy to produce a panic, slaughter prices 
and transfer vast blocks of certain coveted stocks from the 
small operators to the great money kings. Norwell, see- 
ing that nothing could be expected from Ingledee, went back 
to his office in despair. Things looked very black on the 
street. Bankers and brokers were hourly closing their doors. 
Men in despair rushed hither and thither frantically, seeking 
aid, which they could obtain only on the most exorbitant 
terms. From one to two per cent, per day was paid for the 
use of money. Still these wily fishers sat in their offices 
and with grim satisfaction, hour by hour, slowly drew the 
fatal net a little tighter round their struggling, terror-stricken 
prey. Like inquisitors of old, they smiled while their victims 
writhed under the torture. The demon that is in man is a 
part of his very nature; successive ages only change its form. 
The sword is no longer the emblem of the god of rapine; 
instead, the dollar sits exalted while busy criers call from 
dome and minaret, “ Bow down and worship; I am the great 
I Am.” 

Norwell and Wilson went home that night with heavy 
hearts. Unless a favorable change took place next day they 
must close their doors and face utter ruin. Affairs were 
discussed at the dinner table anxiously, but no favorable indi- 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 11 


cations could be discerned ahead. May Bryce seemed 
affected by the news least of all. She was so happy in the 
new-found knowledge that her lover was all her own to have 
forevermore, without any perplexing doubts or dire forebod- 
ings, that she scarcely cared for the threatenings of impend- 
ing poverty. She forgot all Dr. Barnet’s admonitory advice, 
and for a brief time was again the same simple-hearted, happy 
maiden of her girlish days. She deceived herself and all of 
them with this sudden elasticity of mind and body. 

Bidding her lover a fond good-night, which he had 
stamped with a brace of sweet kisses, she retired to rest. 
She was too happy to sleep. Her cough troubled her, too, 
though, strange to say, she thought little of it, and was 
scarcely conscious of a slight pain in the chest that accom- 
panied it. She thought over the trouble in which her lover 
and his partner were. She wished she could do something to 
aid them. Suddenly she thought of Chetta Ingledee. Now 
that May knew she had finally triumphed over that danger- 
ous rival, she no longer feared her. Instead, there was a feel- 
ing of sympathy for the one whom she believed had been so 
grievously disappointed. May thought of Tom’s interview 
with Mr. Ingledee, and formed a sudden resolution. She 
would go to Chetta and throw herself on the generosity of 
her former rival. She would plead for Tom and procure 
Chetta’s intercession with Mr. Ingledee in favor of the firm 
who were so sorely pressed. May thought to herself, “ If 
she ever loved him as I do she will do so much for him.” 

She was so happy in discovering this plan, the success of 
which she never doubted for a moment, that her excited brain 
refused to seek the sweet repose of sleep for a long time. 
Next morning the plan recurred to her on her first awaken- 
ing. It still seemed good, though somehow the healthful 
light of day made it look different from what it appeared 
during the darkness of the night. It admitted of some 
doubts now. Daylight is a capital sieve to filter moonlight 
fancies through. May strove to make out a breakfast on a 
poached egg and some toast, though with very little appetite. 
Then putting on her cloak she slipped from the house and 
started directly for the splendid Ingledee residence on Fifth 
avenue. 

She gave the name u Miss Bryce ” to the servant, and was 
shown into the parlor at once. In a few minutes Miss Ingle- 
dee came down and greeted her visitor politely. There was 


5 12 


AN IRON CROWN. 


a curious look of inquiry in her eyes as she welcomed the 
caller and asked about her health. 

“ You do not look so strong as usual, Miss Bryce.” 

“No, I have not been in my usual health lately, but I 
think I am improving now.” 

Chetta was astonished at the change which had taken 
place in this beautiful girl. The rosy flush of health had 
vanished from the cheeks once so plump, but now pale and 
sunken. The complexion was very pallid except a bright spot 
on either cheek. The pearly luster of the bright eye was 
unnatural. The quick breathing might have been the result 
of excitement, of vigorous exercise, or of disease. 

“ Have you not walked too fast? Shall I ring for some 
wine? ” 

“No thank you, Miss Ingledee. I feel a little faint, that 
is all. I have walked some distance, rather farther than 
usual.” 

Then there was an awkward pause. Miss Ingledee knew 
at first that this girl had come to her with a purpose. What 
that purpose was she could not divine, but it must be in some 
way connected with a subject neither of the women cared to 
discuss with the other. Behind her courtesy there lurked the 
old dislike. This was natural. She believed that May 
Bryce had stolen her lover. All would have been well had 
not this fair-faced stranger come between them with her 
good looks and artless ways. She never once blamed the 
man. She could not forgive the woman. This stranger had 
taken her lover; what more did she want? Had she come to 
exhibit her triumph? 

May was the first to break the silence. It was a difficult 
matter to approach the object of her visit. There were things 
hard to think of and much harder to speak about. But she 
had come, ready to make any sacrifice of her own feelings; to 
do anything consistent with womanly dignity and honor to 
save her lover. In spite of herself she could not control her 
emotion, and spoke with a painful catching of her breath: 

“ Miss Ingledee, I have come to ask a great favor of you 
for one who — for a friend. I know you are generous and I 
trust, magnanimous.” Chetta bowed only in reply and waited. 
“Your father is very rich and very influential. Could you 
intercede with him and get him to use his influence for — for 
some one?” 

“ Miss Bryce, speak plainly. To whom do you refer, and 
what is it you wish?” 


AN IRON CROWN. 5 1 3 

“ I mean Mr. Norwell,” was the low reply, which cost an 
effort. 

“And what do you want 7ne to do for him?” 

“ Perhaps you don’t know, but his firm is in great straits. 
If your father could only do something.” 

“ I am powerless.” 

“ Please do not say that, Miss Ingledee,” plead the anxious 
girl. “You cannot say that. I know how good you are to 
every one, and you must be kind-hearted. If there is anything 
in the past” — she stopped short; she could not mention that. 

Chetta Ingledee rose with an angry gesture and walked to 
the window. This mention of the past had brought up all her 
own secret wrongs. It steeled her heart instantly. “You 
speak of the past. What have I to do with the past? What 
are Mr. Nor well’s affairs to me? Ask your own heart; you 
know best.” 

“ Forgive me, Miss Ingledee, for alluding to it. I meant 
no offense,” said May in alarm. “Only think of your station 
and the good you may do.” 

“And how,” exclaimed Chetta, with a passionate vehe- 
mence, “ can you come here with triumph in your heart to ask 
such a favor of me? Do you come to taunt me?” For a 
moment passion had got the better of this high-spirited woman 
and she felt read}' to crush and humble her rival. 

“Miss Ingledee, Miss Ingledee, you mistake me. I was 
thinki ng only of his interests. Let us forget all that has hap- 
pened. Think only of what you would do for any human 
being whom you could save from ruin.” 

“ I cannot save him.” 

“ Your father can do everything. Will you speak to him? 
Will you try? Only try. Do say that you will.” The plead- 
ing face of this stricken woman was piteous to behold. It 
touched the heart of Miss Ingledee, and she replied in a gentler 
tone : 

“ It is useless now. It is too late.” 

“Too late! Is that all your answer? If you had ever 
really loved him it would never be too late.” 

“ Love!” ejaculated Chetta, scornfully. “ And do you come 
here to give me lessons in love? When you have lavished a 
lifetime of love on one object then speak, and not till then.” 
Thrown off her guard for a moment by the sudden recollec- 
tion of her own bitter disappointment and this imputation on 
the genuineness of her love, Chetta Ingledee had betrayed her 


33 


5 X 4 


AN IRON -CROWN. 


secret to her successful rival. She rose and turned away im- 
patiently, to conceal her vexation. 

“Forgive me, Miss Ingledee, I was wrong and unjust.” 

“ Love! What do you think is the meaning of love? 
What could you do for him ? What sacrifice could you make ?” 

U I could die for him,” answered May, with a pathos that 
struck to the heart of the haughty woman who stood indig- 
nantly before her. “ I can do more than that, yes, more than 
that, Miss Ingledee. Only help him, save him from ruin, and 
I will — yes, I will give him up to you.” She dropped at the 
feet of Chetta and went into a fit of hysterical sobbing, that 
was pitiable to hear. Chetta raised the weeping girl tenderly, 
and placed her in an easy chair. May breathed so hard that 
she was for a moment alarmed. 

“There, Miss Bryce, say no more. You hardly know 
what you are asking. I fear we have both been talking non- 
sense. Let us be rational.” 

“ Then you will help him?” said May, as an angelic smile 
shone through her tears. 

“ Miss Bryce, I have told you the truth. I would save him 
if I could for your sake, and for the past,” she added with 
an effort. “ But I can not help him now. My father,” she 
said, lowering her voice, “ would not permit interference in 
such a thing.” 

“ You are his only child. Don’t you think you could per- 
suade him?” 

“ I can do nothing. It gives me pain to say it, but he is a 
merciless man. And probably he could do nothing now if he 
would. Had Mr. Norwell listened in time all would have been 
well. I wrote him asking him to come and I could tell him 
something.” 

“Was that what you wanted to see him for?” Then May 
stopped suddenly, realizing instantly that she had disclosed a 
secret. “ Oh dear, everything seems to go wrong in this 
world.” 

Chetta noticed May’s surprise at this reference to the note 
and her uneasiness. She knew something had gone amiss, but 
could not guess what. She tried to soothe the suffering girl, 
for whom she now felt a tender pity. 

“ All things are in the hands of Him who orders all wisely; 
we can only wait. Calm yourself, or you will be ill. Why, 
how feverish you are!” she exclaimed, as she felt May’s 
temples. “ You must have some refreshment. I will have a 
lemonade made.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5*5 


“ If you please, thank you. I am very thirsty. 

Chetta then sat down beside May and talked to her kindly. 
She thought how unfit this simple country girl was to struggle 
with the dangers and difficulties that constantly beset life’s path- 
way. Her feelings of anger and jealousy had turned to com- 
passion for the poor creature before her whose life was fast 
ebbing in this fruitless struggle. May drank the cooling 
lemonade and ate a small cracker. 

“ You are very kind, Miss Ingledee. I thank you very 
much.” 

“ Miss Bryce, I wish I could do all you ask. But do not be 
downhearted, things may be all right at last.” 

“ We can always hope.” 

Chetta sadly remembered that on one subject there was no 
longer even hope for her. She ordered the coachman to get 
out a carriage and she took May home tenderly bidding her 
adieu as they parted. 

Chetta next ordered the man to drive directly to Pipe 
Malley & Co.’s store. There was some mystery connected 
with that note of hers to Norwell, and she was determined to 
find out what it was. She had been pained at his treatment 
of her when she called to warn him, and was mystified by 
May’s evident distress on allusion to the note. Quill Malley 
happened to be alone in the store. He replied to her greeting 
with an awkward attempt at politeness. His usual bashful 
manner in the presence of ladies seemed to be intensified this 
morning. He glanced furtively at Chetta’s face when she 
entered, but did not meet her steady gaze. As an excuse he 
employed himself with some fictitious arrangements under 
the counter, then turned his back and sorted oranges busily. 
She talked pleasantly, waiting for him to get through and 
look up which he seemed in no hurry to do, as he answered 
from time to time without turning. At last she began: 

“ Quill, I wish to ask you a question.” Then he ceased 
work, and came and leaned over the counter, but began tracing 
figures on a sheet of wrapping paper, leaning his head so as to 
hide his face. 

u Quill, did you deliver my note the other day as directed?” 

“ Pipe sent me on a urrint. /couldn’t help it,” he replied, 
putting himself on the defensive instantly. 

“ Of course you couldn’t help the delav Where did you 
take it then?” 

“ I took it to Norwell’s & Wilson’s office. He wasn’t 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 t6 


in, so I took it up to his partner’s house. He told me to do 
it.” Quill said this in an injured tone as if he had already 
been accused of a grave crime. 

44 Who told you to take it up there?” 

44 Wy, Mr. Wilson, of course.” 

“ That was proper. Whom did you give the note to ?” 

44 To a girl ’ut come to the door.” 

44 A servant?” 

“ No, that light-haired girl that Mr. Norwell goes with 
sometimes.” 

“ Quill, you have been very careless,” she replied, with a 
tone of displeasure. 

“ How’d I know she wasn’t to be trusted. Y’ ougfht to 
sealed it.” 

44 Wasn’t it sealed?” she asked quickly. 

u Naw it wasn’t,” replied Quill, with a vague suspicion 
that his defensive tactics had betrayed him into saying too 
much. 


44 She may have read it, thinking there was an answer?” 

“ I dunno. I tell yer I seed nobody read it.” Mr. Mal- 
ley’s actions now assumed those of the highly injured indi- 
vidual. The last interrogatory had touched an exceedingly del- 
icate spot, not in his conscience, for that rested pretty comfort- 
able on ordinary occasions, having learned to take cat-naps on 
duty, but in his fears, the region of which was subject to peri- 
ods of abnormal excitement. It behooved him to strengthen 
the position at once by a good round lie. 

44 Somebody has read it. I asked you to deliver it to Mr. 
Norwell personally. You did very wrong, Quill.” 

“ Now how do yer ’spose I could help it if somebody read 
it. I tell yer I seed nobody read it. Hope I may die if I did. 
Honor bright, wot’s the use o’ bein’ so hard on a feller when 
he’s doin’ the best he kin!” 

44 Quill,” she said, in a strange yet not stern tone, that he 
never heard her use before, 44 1 trusted you. You have been 
careless, and mischief has been done.” She turned to go. 

44 I’m awful sorry, Miss Ingledee. I hope it wasn’t T 3 er- 
tickler.” 

44 It was particular, Quill, but there is no helping it now. 
Be more careful in future.” 

Quill’s sorrow was to be understood in a modified sense. 
He did not regret particularly his act of treachery in itself, 
tor it was a matter of business. But he did regret that it could 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 X 7 


not have happened with some one else than his teacher, whom 
he really loved. He was sorry that he had vexed her, and his 
regret was considerably magnified by the possibility that he 
may have lost a good friend who had many times helped him, 
and was willing to help him much more. He reflected rather 
gloomily that he perhaps had for a paltry sum in hand sold 
his expectations of obtaining many times that amount. He 
was a little uneasy, too, lest she might somehow find out that 
he had shown the note to Roker. Then if any trouble grew 
out of it Quill was sure to get his share. 

Quill’s experience of the morning had a depressing effect 
on his spirits during the day. He never once executed a break- 
down in the little back storage room to the edification of a 
young man who kept a peanut establishment on the sidewalk, 
and dropped in occasionally to indulge in gymnastic per- 
formances during the intervals between serving customers. 
He abstained during the entire forenoon from eating, a thing 
beyond precedent, and which the observant proprietor took as 
an infallible indication of serious bodily ailment. Figs, raisins 
and nuts had lost their charms for Quill, and he passed by the 
over-ripe bananas, four for five cents, with a look of self-denial 
that would have done credit to an anchorite. Strangest, most 
incredible of all, he carehilly washed his hands and face twice 
during the forenoon in an apparent fit of abstraction. Whether 
this may not have been a deliberate and violent penance on 
his part will perhaps never be known. All this strange con- 
duct was carefully noted by Pipe, who finally could no longer 
restrain his curiosity to know the cause of such unaccountable 
proceedings. 

“ Quill, what’s the matter with you to-day. Yer actin’ 
awful funny. Ain’t you sick?” 

“ Sick nothin’,” was the crusty reply. “You must be 
sick yerself.” 

Pipe was, indeed, sorely puzzled. At dinner time he 
mentioned this unaccountable conduct privately to his mother. 
Together they were still unable to solve the problem. Quill’s 
appetite seemed to hold out in spite of the dangerous symptoms 
at the store. He dispatched for dinner two plates of browned 
beef and potatoes, bread in proportion, two cups of coffee, a 
dish of cabbage slaw, two big apple dumplings, and a few 
minor accessories. The theory of a disease based on a loss of 
appetite was abandoned as untenable. Mrs. Malley asked, 
after Quill had eaten for some time in absolute silence: 


AN IRON CROWN. 



u Quill, honey, what’s the matter with you; are you sick?” 
“ Matter? Wot d’ye see the matter? Do I look sick? 
Gimme s’ more beef an’ potater.” Then he relapsed into 
silence again, plying his knife and fork viciously by way of 
protest against this distasteful insinuation of poor health. 


CHAPTER LII. 

TRUE UNTO DEATH. 

The crisis in the monetary center of the republic has run 
its course and done its terrible work. A few men have won 
the millions which the many lost. A steady stream has flowed 
into the coffers of Messrs. Ophir, Ingledee, Chrysolite and a 
few others, who happened by chance or otherwise, to get on 
the right side of the market. Smaller concerns have closed 
their doors in a score of instances. The important house of 
Norwell & Wilson has been obliged to suspend after suffering 
tremendous losses in the heavy decline. An angry mob sways 
to and fro in Wall street near the offices of Ophir and Ingle- 
dee. Ominous threats are occasionally heard, and a trivial in- 
cident might incite a terrible riot. A large force of police is 
in readiness to quell any disturbance. Occasionally the names 
of Ophir and Ingledee are coupled with threats of violence, 
but the day wears slowly away, a drizzling rain sets in, and 
the crowd gradually disperses. But the men who have suf- 
fered most, heed not the lowering clouds and the chill rains. 
Fires of hate and revenge burn fiercely in their bosoms beyond 
the power of the steady dripping rain to quell. 

Those who have lost by the failure of Norwell & Wilson 
crowd up the steps of the building, block the sidewalk, try 
to peer through the closed shutters, and clamor for admittance. 
They crowd the policemen who try to keep the sidewalk clear, 
and stubbornly refuse to move on. Boys and idlers add to 
the throng, and indulge in ill-natured or jocose remarks accord- 
ing to their mood. But, for the crowding, anxious, haggard 
men who have lost perhaps the savings of a lifetime, there is 
but one thing possible. They stare at the ominous word 
‘‘Closed” with straining eyes again and again, as if, by some 
possibility, they hoped to discover that they had read it wrong, 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5*9 


that the doors were really open, and the firm paying all their 
creditors in full. On that modest piece of white card board 
they read their doom, but refuse to accept it. It is a cruelly 
hard thing for a man to realize that the fruits of a lifetime are 
swept away in an hour. The weary years of labor, the little 
devices of economy, the painful self-denial of old clothes and 
plain food, the pleasures foregone, the loved ones who en- 
dured all that old age might be lifted over the hard spots in 
life’s pathway, the thousand and one discomforts of small sav- 
ings, the knowledge that life is now perhaps to be ended in 
hopeless, pinching poverty, as bodily strength fails and com- 
forts are a necessity — all these are summed up in those two 
fatal words, “BANK CLOSED.” 

By some mistake of a clerk a few men and pleading women 
were admitted at a side door. Wilson managed to get rid of 
most of them on the promise that possibly the firm could re- 
sume to-morrow when their interests would all be looked 
after. Some were reasonable, others utterly unreasoning and 
threatening. Some of those who had held on to their stocks 
until their investment was nearly wiped out of existence, 
blamed the firm for not advising them in time to sell. Some 
who had bought stocks that had declined very little, thought 
there was some trick about the order to close the doors. They 
wanted their money, and were in some cases insultingly 
clamorous. 

Among others who had entered were Pipe Malley and 
John Wright. The former came through sympathy with his 
friend Norwell, the latter half crazed with anxiety, wanted his 
stocks or the money for them. 

“ Mr. Norwell, can you ruin a poor man this way?” said 
Wright, as he pushed himself into Norwell’s presence. 

“Mr. W right, I have ruined no one. I am ruined myself.” 
“ Give me back my principal and I’ll ask no more.” 

“ I can not give you back your principal. The stock has 
declined till it is not worth half what you paid for it.” 

“ I want my money. I’ve got to have my money. It be- 
longs to Sarah, an’ it’ll kill her to lose it. I’ve slaved all my 
life for Sarah and the children. It was a bad day when I 
ever put my money in the hands of rich men.” He went 
on in an incoherent way, continually repeating, “ I’ve got to 
have my money, I tell you. It’s Sarah’s and the children’s, 
an’ it’ll kill her. Can’t you give me some of it? ” he finally 
asked, “Just as much as you can.” 


5 2 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Mr. Wright, I can’t give you any money. I can give 
you your stocks and you can go out and sell them. But you 
can not get much for them. I think you had better wait.” 
u Why didn’t you tell me this afore, Mr. Norwell, as a 
friend of Little Hackett’s? You knowed I couldn’t afford to 
lose the money. Haven’t you any feelings for a poor man?” 
u I told you I could sell your venture at a profit. You 
chose not to sell. I said it might go higher, that I thought it 
would go higher, but I made no guarantee.” 

During this time Wilson and one of the clerks had suc- 
ceeded in getting everybody out of the office excepting Pipe 
Malley and Wright. The latter was in a perfect frenzy at 
losing his money, and would listen to no arguments. 

“ I don’t want to do anything desprit, but I must have 
that money. I tell you it’ll kill Sarah. Do you want to 
murder my famil} r , do you? I might as well do something 
desprit an’ be hung, an’ then when Sarah an’ me are gone 
the children can go to the poorhouse. Are you trying to 
cheat a poor man? ” 

Pipe Malley had listened for some time with impatience. 
He could no longer restrain his indignation. Walking be- 
tween Norwell and Wright he turned on the latter. 

“ See here, Mr. Wright, you are acting like a madman. 
You’re out o’ your head. Go home till you come to yourself 
before you go talking to people.” 

“ Pll go when I get my money.” 

“ Tour ?noney ! What’s your money more than other 
people’s money? Haven’t others lost all they had? If you 
don’t want to risk any consequences, don’t you take any 
chances. I’ve been in that mill, too. Now when you get 
out you’ll know enough to stay out.” 

“ I don’t want to be beat.” 

“ Who’s trying to beat you? You’ve stood here an’ 
abused Mr. Norwell till it’s a shame. I tell you there isn’t 
an honester man in New York than Tom Norwell. Now 
don’t say another word agin him, for I won’t stand it if he 
does.” 

Tom Norwell, utterly worn out and overwhelmed by the 
disasters of the day, had sat quiet during the dialogue between 
Malley and Wright. Thinking his friend’s zeal might have 
led him too far, he quietly said, “ Pipe, be careful. There is 
no need of any further excitement.” 

“ I’m not excited, Mr. Norwell. I only say that this man 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 21 


has said too much, an’ he’d better go home till he comes to 
his senses. And what’s more, I’ll not stand his abusing 
you.” 

Wilson and Malley finally got Wright aside and induced 
him to leave and wait till next day. The firm hoped to 
be open for business again as usual. With reviving hope the 
man finally saw the absurdity of his actions and regretted his 
course. 

“ Mr. Norwell,” he said, “ I guess I was a little too fast. 
But I was thinkin’ of Sarah an’ the children. I’m a plain 
man an’ don’t know how to talk polite like you do. If I said 
anything out of the way I hope you won’t consider it as 
amountin’ to much.” 

“ We will let that pass,” said Tom. Pipe left at the same 
time, but when Wilson showed him out he met Amaziah 
Snicker at the side entrance. Snicker came to make in- 
quiries about some business matters in which he was 
indirectly interested. 

“ What is the prospect, Wilson?” 

“ Very dark. We hope to resume to-morrow.” 

“ It’s terrible,” said Snicker, wiping his face as he entered 
the private office. u I never saw the like. I didn’t sleep a 
wink last night. I’m out a cool hundred thousand.” 

u It is a very dark outlook for us,” said Norwell, u but I 
supposed that you had no investments that were likely to be 
affected by a temporary fluctuation.” 

“ Did it against my better judgment, to please Fred and 
some friends. I’ve been in hot water for three days. I can’t 
sit still, or eat or sieep. It reminds me of the time I scooped 
a million out o’ sugar in ’6 1 . Damn me, why did I ever 
scoop a million out o’ sugar to go dabbling in railroad stocks!” 
A vicious stamp of the foot accompanied this sentiment. “A 
clean hundred thousand gone. Damn speculation, I say.” 
Mr. Snicker vanished with this objurgation on the very means 
that had put the Snicker family into society, and above every- 
thing common, except, perhaps, the very common ffiabit of 
getting out of temper and indulging a latitude often taken on 
such occasions by high and low, rich and poor, the habit of 
swearing. The partners were left alone in Nor well’s private 
office. 

“ Wilson, I’d rather be dead than undergo all this.” 

“ It’s a hard place to be in, that’s a fact; but the main 
thing now is to get out.” 


522 


AN IRON CROWN. 


u Arthur, I am sorry I ever advised you to go into busi- 
ness. Ruin will be the result.” 

“ Tom, this is no time for that sort of talk. I took the re- 
sponsibility on my own shoulders when I agreed to put my 
money into business.” 

“ Everything I do seems to be unlucky.” 

Wilson for the first time now noticed the worn, haggard 
look in the face of his partner. Under the tremendous pres- 
sure of the last few days Norwell looked several years older. 
Wilson, who knew as yet little of the secret trouble weigh- 
ing on Tom’s heart, supposed all this anxiety was caused by 
the disaster that had overtaken the business. He said kindly, 
but firmly: 

a Norwell, positively you must not give way to these mor- 
bid feelings now, or think about what might have been. We 
need all our energies to save ourselves. Listen. I have one 
plan yet. George Mack, my old partner in the Amazon, 
lives in Philadelphia. If he can raise one hundred thousand 
dollars in cash, we can pull through, I think, for the bottom 
has been reached beyond doubt. I shall take a train for Phil- 
adelphia at once. You say to Alice that I shall not be home 
to-night, and, by the way, you had better stay there your- 
self. ” 

“ That is a good idea, Arthur. Meantime I will go over 
and see Ingledee and find out, if I can, what the outlook is 
for to-morrow.” 

“ I have no confidence in Ingledee, but as you are an old 
friend of his, it can’t do any harm to see him.” 

Norwell got his hat at once and prepared to start, while 
Wilson made a few hasty preparations for his journey. A 
train left Jersey City in twenty minutes, and he had just 
enough time to catch it. 

“ Arthur, I have not felt like myself for a day or two. 
The pressure has been more than I can stand. I’m glad you 
are equal to it.” 

“ Tom, I’ll pull the firm through if it is possible. I know 
Mack will help me if he can. Put things in as bright a light 
as you can to Alice and Miss Bryce.” 

“ I’ll do it. Good-bye, Arthur; success to you.” 

“ Good-bye, Tom. I’ll telegraph as soon as I learn any- 
thing definite.” 

Tom still held his partner’s hand. For some reason, some 
mysterious impulse, he clung to it and gave it a lingering 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 2 3 


pressure, as if he could not bear to let it go. Again he re- 
peated, u Good-bye, Arthur.” Again Wilson said good-bye 
and gently drew his hand away from Tom’s, a little surprised 
at the yearning look in his brother’s eyes. With faint hope 
Tom cried out after the figure retreating through the doorway 
outside, “Good luck.” A tear stole silently down his cheek. 
This strong, active, once buoyant spirit was slowly breaking 
under a pressure that few men could bear. 

Norwell put on his hat and walked down the street to 
In gledee’s office. The drizzling rain and fog had deepened 
at half-past three in the afternoon, almost into the darkness 
of night. Gas burned everywhere, shining dimly through 
the mist with a faint aureole. The mob had diminished, but 
still watched sullenly in force before *the windows of the 
great magnates of the street. The same muttered threats of 
violence were occasionally heard. There was a rumor that 
Ophir had entered Ingledee’s office, and that the two railway 
kings were now closeted together. But the sullen men who 
breathed vengeance were a minority, and the mob was not 
prepared to inaugurate a carnival of bloodshed and destruc- 
tion. Norwell with little difficulty passed through an adjoin- 
ing building and reached a back entrance of the building in 
which Ingledee’s spacious offices were situated. A porter 
who knew Norwell, let him pass readily, and told him that 
Mr. Ingledee had not yet gone home. Norwell passed to 
the front and pleading very urgent business, was admitted to 
the private office. Here were Mr. Ingledee, Chetta and 
Horace Roker. 

Ingledee had not been alarmed by the threats of the mob. 
He had, contrary to Roker’s advice, remained in the office all 
day watching the market. The excitement of the occasion 
was to him only child’s play which he greatly enjoyed. 
Entrenched behind his impregnable millions, he sat and 
placidly watched the drowning wretches w T ho had been sud- 
denly overtaken by this monetary deluge. He smiled as he 
raked in the thousands that would have saved others, and for 
want of which they must perish. He laughed at Roker’s 
hints that there might be danger in remaining. Henry 
Ingledee never deserted his post because of danger. Chetta, 
who had come down early in the day, absolutely refused to 
leave her father, in spite of his commands. For once she 
peremptorily refused to obey him. 

Norwell told Mr. Ingledee that things were very threat- 


5 2 4 


AN IRON CROWN. 


ening outside, and that the mob refused to disperse, though 
business hours were now past. He mentioned the threats to 
burn the building. 

a Let them try it, curse them!” exclaimed Ingledee. 
44 It will be the worst piece of work they ever did.” 

44 Oh do go, papa; we can do nothing here now, any 
way.” 

Just then a heavy stone was thrown with great force 
striking the plate glass window and shivering it into long, 
jagged triangles, some of which broke off and fell to the 
ground, while others stood in place. This was followed by 
a hooting and yelling of the mob. 

“The villains!” exclaimed Mr. Ingledee as he rushed to 
the window defiantly. 

44 Papa, you must go. Quick, or it may be too late.” 
She clung to him and placed herself between him and the 
window. 

44 Yes, it is time for us all to go,” said Norwell. 44 Miss 
Ingledee, this is no place for you.” He took her arm to lead 
her away, while Roker stood calmly in the rear waiting the 
orders of his chief. 

44 1 can't go Mr. Norwell, till papa and you are safe. 
Please be quick. I will wait here till you escape. They will 
suspect nothing while they see me here, and they will not 
hurt a woman.” 

44 We will all go,” said Mr. Ingledee decisively. 44 I think 
the beggars mean mischief. Daughter, run to the back door 
and wait for us. I will get my hat and cane. They can’t 
start me in a panic if they do their worst. Go Chetta.” 

44 Papa, if we all go at once they will discover us and you 
may not escape. You gentlemen must go first; while I 
remain they will not suspect that you are gone. They are 
not such cowards as to attack a woman when they discover 
their mistake.” 

Another stone shattered more of the glass and accelerated 
Mr. Ingledee’s movements toward a little closet where his 
hat and stick were. Chetta moved nearer the window and 
Norwell stepped forward to lead her away. Some one in 
the crowd, doubtless thinking his figure that showed con- 
spicuous in the gaslight was that of Ingledee, suddenly fired 
a shot, the first one that had been heard. It was followed by 
a woman’s scream, and two or three more shots in quick suc- 
cession. Chetta Ingledee clasped her side convulsively, stood 


AN IRON CROWN. 


5 2 5 


still for a moment, then fell heavily into Norwell’s arms as he 
caught her, horror stricken at the suddenness of the terrible 
deed. The fatal bullet had entered the region of the stomach 
and torn its way through the vital organs. Roker uttered a 
cry of horror which caused Mr. Ingledee to turn in time, to 
see his daughter fall, limp and helpless, into Norwell’s arms. 
He rushed to her side, asking frantically: 

“Are you hurt, darling ? Speak to me. What is it, my 
child?” 

She looked up into Norwell’s face, while a smile played 
over the features from which the blood had already lied. 
Then she spoke faintly and gasping: 

“Tom, don’t let me fall. I’m so dizzy. Papa, save your- 
self.” 

“Roker, go for a physician, quick — quick!” said Mr. 
Ingledee. 

The agonized father hastily tore open the clothing of his 
dying child, as she lay on the floor, her head supported on 
Norwell’s knee. The beautiful skin, as white as marble, 
showed one small spot hardly as large as a cherry with a 
dark, blood-colored, narrow ring around its edge. Not a drop 
of blood issued from the wound. “Chetta, speak to me; are 
you badly hurt?” She opened her eyes and said faintly: 

“ Papa, are you safe? ” 

“Yes, daughter, I think the danger is over. Are you 
much hurt, Chetta?” 

“ Papa, I am dying.” 

A moan from the stricken parent was the only answer. 
There was a brief pause. No more shots had been fired and 
a platoon of police were now clearing the streets. The 
dying woman breathed very hard. The diaphragm had been 
torn and disabled by the shot. Neither of the men uttered a 
single word during this minute of intense suspense. “Please 
raise my head,” she murmured very faintly. Norwell drew 
her head and shoulders into a more comfortable position, rest- 
ing them against his body as he kneeled on the floor. The 
woman who had loved him all her life was now dying in his 
arms. Soon there was a convulsive struggle for a brief 
moment, and the face was distorted by a spasm of intense 
pain. Then a peaceful expression passed over the blood- 
less features of the woman. 

“ Papa,” she said in a low tone, “I am going.” Then she 
looked at him with an expression of intense wistfulness. He 
stooped down and tenderly inquired: 


526 


AN IKON CROWN. 


“ Do you wish anything dear? 

“ Kiss me, papa.” 

Tears rained down the cheeks of this iron-willed man as 
he thought of his child that had spent her life scarcely know- 
ing a parent’s love. He suddenly remembered that he had 
not kissed her since she was a child He kissed her tenderly 
and burst out: 

“ Oh, my child, my precious child.” 

She had closed her eyes and did not appear to hear him. 
In the last moments before eternity was about to claim his 
child, this wordly-minded, money -worshiping man saw in the 
twinkling of an eye that there are things which all the 
millions in the world can not buy. A kiss on the lips of the 
dying, outweighed his threescore millions. 

She turned her eyes to Norwell with a look of ineffable 
peace. Her eyes met his for an instant. Then they sought 
her father’s face as he leaned over her in an agony of appre- 
hension. There was a twitching of the fingers, a movement 
of the limbs, a feeble attempt at catching the breath, and 
Chetta Ingledee was dead. 

The physician came too late. It was the undertaker who 
was to perform his office now. Roker assisted Mr. Ingledee 
into a carriage. Tom Norwell walked out alone, needing 
assistance much more than the bereaved father. The black- 
ness of death and disaster had suddenly overspread the entire 
sky of his life. His oldest, best friend had died to save him. 
The events of the last two days, so full of dire calamity, had 
culminated in an awful tragedy, and the end was not yet. 
He was no longer able to reason his way into any safe 
haven of refuge. He could only imagine still worse things, 
for there was one thing that might be worse than all that had 
happened. In his overwrought condition there seemed to be 
be no way out of these dark, uncertain dangers. Life he 
thought could never again be so sweet for him. The elas- 
ticity of mind which in his youth had continually sprang 
over all obstacles, was now lost. Instead was only a funeral 
pall of despair that barred from his mind every pleasant 
thought. One avenue to a region where there was still sun- 
shine lay open. One star of hope still shone above the angry 
waters. There was light and life, but still the sad remem- 
brances of the past must cling round the peaceful abode to 
which this one small star might lead him — the home which 
he should share with his crushed but still beautiful Prairie 


AN IRON CROWN, 


5 2 7 


Flower. With her he would give up this struggle for wealth 
and live in humble content made wiser by the awful lessons 
of the past. Then a spectral shape rose between him and 
this haven of peace, and sick at heart, he strove not to think 
at all. It was best to have surcease of thought and let events 
take their own way, since their course could not be changed 
by much thinking. 

As soon as he had collected his thoughts a little, Norwell 
determined to go home at once and break the news to Alice. 
He dreaded the effect it might have on May. He would 
leave all to his sister. He suddenly longed for her strong 
womanly sympathy and advice, which would do so much 
toward putting his own disordered thoughts to rights. He 
called a hack and ordered the man to drive at once to 
Wilson’s house. Alice, anxiously expecting news, met him 
at the door. The startling intelligence was told in a few 
words. She listened in silence, remarking only at the close: 
u That is awful, Tom.” 

“ Can you tell May without exciting her?’ 

“ I’ll try.” 

“ How do you think she will take it?” 

Alice looked him in the face for a moment. But his 
countenance did not suggest the thought she feared. 

w I’ll try to tell it so she will not be shocked. She will be 
very sorry. It is a dreadful thing.” 

May heard the news calmly and with pity for the sad 
fate of this young woman to whom life must have been so 
sweet and for whom it might have had so many delights in 
store. She thought of their last interview, and of the kind- 
ness shown her by her former rival. The past was all for- 
gotten in a moment, and only tender memories of the dead 
remained. 

At dinner no allusion was made to the tragedy of the 
day. Tom explained to the women Wilson’s errand to Phil- 
adelphia. Mrs. Wilson, who had unbounded confidence in 
her husband’s judgment, at once took hope. Her cheerful 
confidence gradually aroused Tom. May, who knew abso- 
lutely nothing of business, thought things as good as 
settled already, and was content. The gloom gradually 
lifted around Tom until he began to see light before him. It 
was not the sunlight of youth, for that could never return 
again with the spring birds and the flowers. But it showed 
him still the same peaceful retreat with the figure of a fair- 


528 


AN IRON CROWN. 


haired woman, and peace. He began to see clearly the 
events of the day and to catch a part of his sister’s hope for 
the future. 

W ith returning calmness of mind he began to study more 
closely the slight form opposite him, as her blue eyes dwelt 
on him and she listened eagerly to his words. He was pained 
to see how fragile she looked. The slender figure appeared 
almost as delicate as some of those dainty productions in 
glass, that the slightest blow might ruin forever. Her cheek 
was wasted and pallid, excepting a faint hectic spot. The 
brightness of the eye and the cheerful manner he had once 
before taken for indications of returning health. Now he 
could not bear to look at those signs which bore such deep 
deception. Again the shadowy specter rose between him 
and that quiet land of sunshine. It hid the light of the one 
star that had shone for him above the black and angry 
waters. This suspense was unbearable. He determined to 
end it, although he shrank from the ..possibilities involved in 
an interview with Dr. Barnet. He told Alice he thought of 
going out for an hour or so. He might drop in at the club. 
He needed to mingle with men and divert his mind. She 
approved of his purpose, but added a wish that he might get 
in early. They would wait for him. He took his sister’s 
hand at parting: 

“Alice, if I have ever been unkind to you, forgive me. 
You are a brave, true, good sister. Your presence is sun- 
shine itself.” She threw her arms around hie neck and 
kissed him. 

“ Why, Tom, what else should a sister be?” He kissed 
her again and said, “ Good-night.” May went with him to 
the door, for every moment of his presence was joy to her. 

“Tom, I know things must come out all right. I think 
you are not quite happy. Do you really care so much for 
money ?” 

“ God bless you, little girl,” he cried, clasping her to his 
bosom, “ I care nothing for money now. You are all the 
world to me.” She nestled close to his bosom and mur- 
mured : 

“Tom, I’ve been very foolish. I wronged you when I 
doubted you; forgive me. I never was so happy as I am 
now.” She had thought again of that ill-omened note and 
her active conscientiousness would not rest till this confession 
was made. He heard it all, then answered gently: 


AN IKON CROWN. 


5 2 9 


“ May, I have been weak and wicked. It was all be- 
cause I was too cowardly to face duty and do right when it 
was disagreeable. Let us bury this painful subject forever.” 
The lovers in this moment of mutual confession and con- 
doning were supremely happy. The perfect confidence that 
marks perfect love had been attained. There could be no 
more doubts. For a moment Norwell saw things as never 
before. The triumphs of love and duty were worth more 
than all the victories ever achieved in Wall Street since Wall 
Street began. But this vision of Eden was momentary. 
Again the shadowy specter flitted between him and the dis- 
tant land of sunshine, which for an instant seemed very near. 
Snatching a hasty kiss, he said, “ Good-night,” and was gone. 

The news of the tragedy in Mr. Ingledee’s office had 
spread with the rapidity which only the magic of electricity 
can produce. The papers issued extras with startling head- 
lines. Excited crowds scanned the bulletin boards and 
blockaded the sidewalks. Men sympathized with the be- 
reaved father whom they had cursed an hour before. The 
community was inexpressibly shocked that the arm of ven- 
geance had failed on a defenceless, innocent woman. 

Pipe M alley was standing in the door of his store when 
a boy came running breathlessly, crying, “All ’bout the rite’n 
murder.” Pipe bought a paper, and eagerly looking at the 
display lines, dropped it in surprise and in a tone of anguish 
exclaimed : 

“ Quill, she’s dead!” 

“ Who’s dead, Pipe?” 

c< Why her, Miss Ingledee.” Quill’s only response to 
this terrible news was to drop a package he was tying up 
and spill its contents on the floor. He stood staring at Pipe 
as if waiting for further information. But Pipe could only 
repeat : 

“ Ain’t it awful, Quill?” 

After the first surprise Quill at once thought of how he 
had betrayed his dead benefactress, and for the first time in 
his life knew what remorse was. At last he ventured to ask 
Pipe who sat behind the desk, saying nothing: 

“ What ailded her, Pipe?” 

“What ailed her! why she was killed in the office. Mur- 
dered! Don’t you know? It’s there in the paper.” As 
Quill had not seen the paper he could not well be expected 
to know. 


34 


53 ° 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“I believe it’s a lie. Nobody had a grudge agin her un- 
less” — here Quill stopped short — “Durn him, I’d like to choke 
him to death,” he added viciously, as he slammed a weight 
down on the counter. 

“Oh you ! You’re green as grass, Quill. Nobody did it 
for a grudge. The fellow just shot out of the crowd expect- 
ing to kill her father, and killed her. That’s all there was to 
it. She was the best friend I ever had.” 

“ An’ we never behaved half decent like we might a’ done 
in class.” 

a No we didn’t,” replied Pipe with solemn emphasis. 

At supper-time Quill’s appetite was completely gone, to 

Mrs. Malley’s alarm. She was unable to see how the death 

•» 

of this dearly beloved teacher should take away appetite. 
She herself had eaten three square meals the day Mr. Malley 
departed this life, for grief. In her philosophy she saw no 
reason, and she was right, for ignoring the wants of the body 
because of the sorrow of the mind. When she saw Pipe eat 
a hearty meal she was fully confirmed in her view that some 
malady had fastened on her precious Quill. While Mrs. 
Malley openly admired Pipe as the smartest of the two boys, 
she surreptitiously spoiled and - abetted Quill’s shortcomings 
behind Pipe’s back. She loved this careless, easy-going boy 
because he was the inferior of the other, and because she 
thought Pipe was sometimes too hard on him. He needed 
her love and sympathy and she gave it freely. 

“ Quill, honey, are you sick ? ” 

“ No,” was the rather mournful answer. 

“ But yer eatin’ nothin’.” — 

44 He ate enough at dinner for three meals,” replied Pipe. 

44 I didn’t either. I jist ain’t hungry, that’s all.” 

As this was the first time in Quill’s life that he had not 
been hungry at meal time, Mrs. Malley quietly called him 
aside after supper to diagnose his symptoms. Finally under 
promise that she must not tell Pipe, Quill related to his 
mother the circumstances of his carrying the note, allowing 
Roker to see it, and finally delivering it to the wrong 
person. 

44 Do you think she’ll bring it up agin me, mother?” It 
was difficult to see how the dead woman could bring anything 
up against any one now; but Quill’s conscience was very 
tender as he reflected on what he had done. He accused 
himself bitterly to his mother. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


53 1 


44 Mother, I jist feel so mean I can’t bear to think of it. 
I hain’t fit to live, that’s what I hain’t.” Into his humble 
life had cornea kind friend; across his pathway lay golden 
opportunities. He had betrayed that friend and despised the 
opportunities. He hated himself for it. 

44 Quill, you’ve been a bad boy. Are you really sorry?” 

44 Awful sorry, mother.” 

44 Then I don’t think she will bring it up agin you.” 
Quill felt relieved to think that his mother looked on the 
transaction as one that could be forgiven. Mentally he fairly 
groveled in the dust of penitence while his indignation steadily 
grew against Horace Roker who had led him to commit this 
sin of blackest ingratitude. 


CHAPTER LIII. 

THE SHADOW THAT WALKED BEFORE. 

Norwell went directly to Dr. Barnet’s office and found 
the doctor in. He began at once, for this suspense was un- 
bearable. Be the Doctor’s opinion what it might it was 
better to know all than endure such uncertainty. Dr. Barnet 
as usual began with generalities. Tom stopped him short. 

“Doctor, I want to know the facts in this case. I must 
know them.” 

44 Then you are a near friend of the young lady? ” 

44 She is my affianced bride.” 

44 Her case is very serious. You may as well accustom 
yourself to consider it dangerous.” 

The doctor paused. He was loth to pronounce the death 
doom of the hopes of this young man before him. He knew 
nothing of the magnitude of that mountain of calamity that 
three or four days had heaped on Norwell’s shoulders. 

44 Go on, Doctor. I am prepared for the worst. Is there 
no hope ? ” 

44 None whatever. Miss Bryce is in an advanced stage of 
consumption.” 

Norwell was very calm. He made no exclamations. He 
listened as the prisoner at the bar listens while the judge 
pronounces the sentence of death. 


53 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


44 Can nothing be done, Doctor? Would a change of 
climate — would California do her any good?” 

44 Too late,” said Dr. Barnet, as he shook his head sadly. 
44 Six months ago or even three months ago it might have 
saved her, but the work is done now.” 

44 How long do you think she may live?” 

44 But a few months, perhaps six, may be not so many 
weeks.” 

Norwell left the office heedless of the direction he took. 
He walked like a somnambulist who is not conscious of time, 
place, or action. But his brain was exceedingly busy. The 
past rose before him in rapid review. He thought of the first 
time he had met May and of that first stolen kiss on the bridge. 
He thought of Chetta Ingledee’s life of devotion to him and 
of the last look of love in her dying eyes which smote him 
with reproaches. He had slighted one woman who had died 
to save him and had been false to another who was soon to 
follow her to the grave, all for love of him. In his agony he 
cried out, 44 My God, what have I done!” Again that shad- 
owy phantom crossed his path shutting out the rays of the 
one benignant star whose light he had followed. This time 
it was nearer and more distinct. He saw it now without fear. 
Life for him had no charms, death no terrors. He thought of 
Wilson’s errand for help and of its possible outcome, with the 
indifference of one in no way interested. The one great 
trouble of threatened ruin no longer gave him any uneasiness. 
It was only the inconvenience of a trifling episode, the petty 
annoyance of a day now laid aside. He walked on sometimes 
in busy streets, sometimes in deserted streets, not knowing 
the difference between them. Now and then amid the human 
forms he caught the outline of that spectral shadow that each 
time seemed a little nearer and clearer. He looked on it 
calmly, almost curiously. He turned into Broadway, which 
at this time of night was nearly deserted. The great thor- 
oughfare which he had traversed thousands of times seemed 
to recall him partially to a sense of his condition. The famil- 
iar landmarks reminded him that business and joy and hope 
and love were not for him. He had done with them all, and 
dismissed them. But the faces that he had often seen on that 
street would not be dismissed. Again he saw the love look 
in Chetta’s dying eyes and almost instantly May Bryce’s 
sweet pale face, with its saddened expression. With a moan 
he plunged into a less known side street. Better darkness 


AN IRON CROWN. 


533 


and that grim threatening shadow, than such awful memories. 
He walked for hours, nor realizing the flight of time. At last 
he was roused to the consciousness that he had left his sister 
and sweetheart at home awaiting his return. 

The two women at home sat in silence, waiting for the 
return of the lover and brother. Neither referred to the 
dreadful event of the day, though the. thoughts of both had 
been busy. Alice took a book, and May sat thinking, till the 
silvery tones of the clock indicated the hour of ten. 

“ It is getting late, Alice. Why doesn’t he come?” 

M It isn’t late yet, May. Tom often stays out till after 
eleven.” 

“ But he promised to come back early, and we were to 
wait, you know.” 

“ He has met some friends, doubtless. It will do him good 
to talk to them.” 

Alice laid aside her book, and the two women drawing 
nearer together, talked confidentially of old times. Lately, for 
some reason May delighted to tell of her childhood home in 
the beautiful prairies of Illinois. She loved to dwell on the 
little incidents of farm-life. There was a certain old gnarled 
apple-tree in the orchard at home, where the great branches 
formed a swinging seat. Here she had often sat when a girl, 
with a favorite book which she read betimes, while the pink- 
ish-white petals of the fragrant blossoms showered over her 
golden hair, and innumerable bees hummed busily and darted 
honey-laden away. The robin, alarmed at this fair in- 
truder on his peculiar domain, with much fretful ado quirked 
and complained as he flitted from tree to tree in the vicinity. 
Here she sometimes sat in late summer, and looked off over 
the rolling prairies at the waving cornfields, shady groves, 

and dotted farmhouses. Here awav to the southwest she 

•/ 

could see the lines of the fleecy u thunderheads ” pile slowly 
one on top of another, while she peopled them with a 
fairy world, the product of her own prolific imagination. 
Here she was startled from her day-dreams by the sudden 
swoop of the red-headed woodpecker, who had a mind to 
banquet on the tempting crimson-cheeked apples, but in his 
turn was startled at the unexpected vision in the old tree, and 
flew away with a waving flight to the highest point of the 
barn-roof, or the dead branches of some neighboring tall tree. 
Then he waited, while perhaps his mate in the distance 
pecked a rapid succession of smart blows on a dry rail or tree 


534 


AN IRON CROWN. 


sounding the woodpecker’s rattle so familiar to the ear in the 
American forests and fields. 

May delighted to dwell on these tender recollections. She 
had never liked the bustle and turmoil of a great city, and 
since her health had failed she longed for the old home. 
With much persuasion Alice had induced May to write to her 
father and mother that she was not in her usual health. An 
answer was expected soon. Meantime Alice saw that her 
sick friend drooped visibly, day by day. 

The little clock again interrupted their conversation. 
With deliberate silvery strokes it pealed out eleven. The 
last stroke seemed delayed for an instant, as if it dreaded to 
alarm this patient, suffering creature to whom it must send a 
pang. 

“Alice,” asked the young woman in a low tone, “ do you 
think anything has happened him? I am uneasy.” 

“ I think not, dear. Don’t be alarmed, you know you are 
not quite strong yet, and must be as quiet as possible.” As 
Mrs. Wilson said this, she silently drew nearer to the fragile 
girl, and placed an arm around her waist. In truth, she her- 
self was uneasy. “ Tom has met some friends. It is bet- 
ter so.” 

There were no more tender reminiscences of the old home. 
There was only anxious watching. Vehicles of all kinds had 
long since disappeared from the streets, excepting an occa- 
sional carriage that rolled homeward, bearing its occupants 
from some scene of pleasure. Thus runs the world away. 
One waits in lonely silence for the return of an absent one, or 
watches patiently by the sick bed, while another goes forth to 
scenes of pleasure. To-morrow he will sit in mourning, too, 
while another hastes to the bridal feast. 

Occasionally the women went to the window, and peered 
out into the street where the passers were now very few. At 
times they started as they felt sure they heard a footfall on the 
steps of the front door. It was all a fancy, no one came. 

The silvery tongue of the clock slowly pealed twelve. 
Reluctantly it was compelled to measure the flight of time. 

“ I am sure something has happened,” said May in alarm. 

“ I think not, dear. He must have been delayed, and find- 
ing it late, went to his lodgings. We had better retire, and 
meet him at breakfast.” 

While Alice said this, a great fear which she was obliged 
to conceal, possessed her. 


AN IRON CROWN. 535 

“We promised to wait for him. He will not leave us 
alone to-night.” 

u But you are not strong, May. Go to bed, and get your 
rest. You need it. I will sit up for him.” 

“ I could not sleep. I will wait, too.” 

Mrs. Wilson called a servant, and told him to close the 
house, and go to bed. She intended to wait for her brother. 
The man obeyed, and soon all was silent in the house. The 
night was dark, though the drizzling rain had ceased in the 
evening. Carriages were heard now only at very rare inter- 
vals. Soon the silvery voice of the clock pealed one with 
a suddenness that alarmed them. It had got through its dis- 
agreeable task with marvelous dispatch, compared with its 
very deliberate work of recording twelve. To end this ter- 
rible suspense, Mrs. Wilson now sent a servant to her broth- 
er’s lodgings to inquire if he had returned. It was but a 
short distance, and soon the man came back, saying that with 
much difficulty he had aroused the house, and that Mr. Nor- 
well had not been in that evening. 

May’s anxiety now caused a violent fit of coughing which 
sounded dreadfully alarming in the great silent house. Her 
friend, with a mother’s solicitude, administered a remedy, and 
urged her again to go to bed. The night air was getting 
chill, and the fire in the grate was out. May persisted in re- 
fusal. She could not sleep while the dreadful thought haunted 
her that something might have happened to him. Alice then 
threw a shawl about the invalid who sat in an easy chair, and 
the vigil continued. Now there were no sounds in the streets. 
The great city slept as nearly as a city may, which never sinks 
to perfect repose. 

Alice had rapidly sunk into a condition of alarm that ap- 
proached despair, and realizing her brother’s great troubles, 
and the effect that the tragedy of the day must have had on 
him, she feared that it might unsettle his mind temporarily. 
She thought of this again and again, and each time with 
increasing fear of the one terrible event — suicide. 

The stillness of the house was oppressive, and had in it 
something of terror to the two watchers, who drew closely 
together in sympathy. For a brief space the silence was per- 
fect. But the eye of a million people is never wholly closed. 
The wants of civilization turn night into day, and universal 
sleep is unknown. As the British Empire boasts that the sun 
never sets on her dominions, so a great city may boast, if such 


AN IRON CROWN. 


53 6 

a vaunt be a matter of self-congratulation, that she never 
sleeps. Her vigil is eternal. It plants the seeds of death, for 
it is said that ten thousand more people die every year in New 
York than are born there. This great waste is made up from 
the country, where men’s nerves are steadied by the balm of 
perfect sleep, the only elixir of life. 

The tide of restless humanity had ebbed to its lowest 
point, and stood still for a moment before the re-awakening. 
These women waiting for a loved one had seen it decline, and 
their hopes slowly sank with it, till the depths of despair were 
reached, in mutual silence. Neither dared speak her thoughts 
to the other, though each one knew the other’s thoughts. A 
noise in a neighboring business street aroused them. A 
baker’s wagon rattled over the stony pavements on its route 
supplying restaurants which were obliged to open early. 
The day had begun, but not the dawn. In a low tone Alice 
broke the silence: 

“ It will soon be morning.” 

“Hark! what is that?” asked May, whose sensitive ear 
caught the slightest sound. The quick step of a man was 
heard outside. His figure could be dimly seen in the dull 
light from a street lamp at the corner. He ascended the 
steps, and paused to read the name on the door-plate. The 
hearts of the women stood still in dread expectation. It was 
not the one they looked for; he would unlock the door, and 
enter. Then the door-bell rang violently, startling the 
women as its echoes sounded through the silent house. 
Neither spoke, but both felt that something had happened. 
Instantly Mrs. Wilson was at the door. Putting on the 
guard-chain, she cautiously opened the door a few inches. 

“ Does Mr. Wilson live here?” 

“Yes; what is wanted? ” 

“ Do you know a Mr. Norwell? ” 

“Yes; he is my brother. Something has happened?” 
“An accident in the street, ma’am. The gentleman was 
run down by a carriage that turned the corner on him too 
quick. He was brought home to 19 Amsterdam Place insen- 
sible. The}' found this address on some papers in his pocket.” 
“ I will go to him at once. Will you be kind enough to 
go to the stables around on the. next street, and order a hack 
instantly?” 

“Certainly, Ma’am,” said the man, then, after hesitating, 
he added: “Don’t be alarmed too much, ma’am, but he is 

very badly injured.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


537 


The man knew there was little hope, and the anxious 
women arrived only to find the loved one unconscious from 
a ghastly wound in the head where it had struck the sharp 
curbstone. May entered first, and stood for a moment like 
one suddenly struck by a mortal shaft, then threw herself 
upon the motionless form and burst into a passionate grief. 
One by one the strangers silently stole from the room, and 
the anxious sister and stricken sweetheart were left alone 
with their dear one in the solemn gray twilight of the early 
morning. 


CHAPTER LIV. 

A FADING FLOWER. 

The angel of death has been busy with the characters of 
this history, and sorrow has sometimes entered where joy 
might have been expected. But this book has not been 
written to depict all things as pleasant, and cater to any idle 
desire for mere amusement. In the estimation of the writer, 
life is far too serious, its work-day needs too pressing, its 
leisure too small, its duties too great, its pathos too real for 
any one to spend weary months of hard labor and precious 
time, that dearest of all things sold from nature’s store, to pro- 
duce a book for mere amusement; or for any one to read 
such a book simply because it is a story, and may perhaps 
tickle with some odd conceit the already surfeited palate of the 
reading public. 

This narration is sometimes sad, because life is very often 
sad. Mirth is a medicine, and habitual sadness is not good 
for man. But sorrow is the crucible that refines character till 
the pure gold far outshines the meretricious glitter of fool’s 
gold. It is better to weep sometimes with Niobe, than to grin 
forever with Comus. It is best to know, once for all, and 
never forget, that certain lines of conduct can only lead to 
suffering, and that others will lead to happiness, come what 
may. It is well to know that money in itself is not happi- 
ness; that the man who in this life seeks only money, who 
toils for it by day, dreams of it by night, and perhaps 
acts dishonestly to get it, is laying up for himself only dis- 


53S 


AN IKON CROWN. 


/ 


appointment for old age, and, if he be not utterly lost to the 
finer feelings of human nature, remorse for his death-bed and 
despair for his soul. 

It is well to keep it forever before our eyes^that we can 
not remedy evils by ignoring them. All that the tyrant, the 
extortioner, the evil-doer asks is to be let alone. We can not 
shirk our duties as citizens on the plea: These things do not 
trouble me; my family and my interests are safe. The pub- 
lic weal is the first duty of every citizen. When this princi- 
ple is forgotten in a selfish and disgraceful scramble for office, 
spoils, and emoluments, democratic government has witnessed 
the beginning of the end. 

Finally, it is well for us to remember that we can not, if 
we would, escape the consequences of our own acts; and that, 
though we may manfully face these consequences for our- 
selves, we may bring sorrow to other hearts, and ruin to other 
firesides, while we are powerless to avert the blow. 

* * * * * * 

A few months have elapsed since the sad events recorded 
in the last chapter. The scene is a cottage in New Jersey. 
People move quietly within and speak in subdued tones. A 
fair young woman lies at the point of death. The sweet 
Prairie Flower has slowly drooped day by day, while fond 
parents and kind friends watch at her bedside. It is again 
spring time. The warm south wind enters at the open win- 
dow, while the sun shines brightly on the trees outside where 
the happy birds sing. May Bryce is no longer able to sit by 
the window and watch the birds build; but her bed is 
brought near, and she can hear them. Her mother sits by 
the bedside, and watches with breaking heart, the wasted 
features of her once beautiful child. 

On that face there is only sweet peace and perfect happi- 
ness. She knows that she is going to die. There are no 
more fears, no more doubts, no more longings. It is- only a 
step from this world of sorrow to that land of joy, where 
every wish shall be pure, and every sense be gratified. She 
asks her stricken father and mother not to weep for her. 
Death is only laying off an old garment for a new one that 
is beautiful and perfect. But the eyes of those weeping 
parents can not see beyond the river to that region of deli ght 
on which their daughter looks with perfect resignation. 


AN IRON CROWN. 539 

Their tired feet still tread this earth, and their weary hearts 
can not yet give up the things of this life. 

“ Mother, do not grieve, it is only for a little while. We 
shall all meet soon.” 

“Yes, child; but we shall be very lonely in the old house 
at home.” 

“ But you will think of me, and then you will know that I 
am still near you. How I should like to see the old home 
again. What day of the month is it, mother?” 

“It is the twentieth day of May.” 

“ The apple trees are now in full bloom, and the flowers 
are thick on the prairies. I think it would do me good to 
smell them again.” 

“ Shall I give you this bouquet that Miss Hackett brought 
you ? ” 

“ No,” said the sick girl wearily, motioning the flowers 
away; “it was very kind of Mary, but it doesn’t smell like 
the flowers at home. I miss the apple blossoms.” 

“ Mr. Wilson will get you some, May.” 

“No, it isn’t worth while, mother. They wouldn’t be 
just like our apple blossoms.” She paused awhile, and 
gasped for breath — she was very weak now. 

“ Father ! ” she called faintly. 

“ Yes, May; I am here,” aqd the stricken man took his 
seat by the bedside. 

“ I’ve been thinking about our old home.” 

“ Have you, child ? Well, it’s a pleasant place to think 
about.” 

“I did wish I could die there, but that is over now.” 
His tears were falling fast, but he dared not trust his voice 
to say a word. He feared to distress her by breaking down 
completely. 

“ Do you think the boys and girls will think of me some- 
times? ” 

“ They surely will.” 

“ Please say I often thought of them. Give my old 
teacher, Mr. Hickson, some of my books. He would like 
them.” 

“ It shall be done, daughter.” Then she went on with 
various little bequests to her former young friends and school- 
mates. She spoke with a childish simplicity, and in all 
things seemed more and more a child. 

At last she spoke with sudden eagerness: 


540 


AN IRON CROWN. 


“ Father, please don’t sell my pony. Poor Dick! I know 
he will miss me.” 

Ct I will keep him always,” said the father, in a choking 1 
voice. 

“ May, are you not tired? Perhaps you are talking too 
much at one time,” gently suggested the mother. She closed 
her eyes as if thinking, and lay very still for a few minutes. 
A sense of drowsiness prevailed in the room as the afternoon 
sun made the air warm. The birds still flitted in the trees 
but their motions were more languid. A bottlefly that had 
got inside suddenly buzzed up against the window pane in his 
efforts to escape. The noise caused the sick girl to open her 
eyes. “ Father,” she said in a very low voice. 

“ What is it, my child? ” 

u I wish to ask one more favor before I die. You will 
not refuse me?” He knew what she wanted and nodded, his 
head for her to go on. 

When Mr. Bryce on his arrival in New York had learned 
all the terrible details of this tragedy of his daughter’s life, 
his anger had flamed hot against Tom Norwell. But seeing 
the distress that it gave May he had never said anything on 
the subject after the first outburst of passionate grief. Mrs. 
Bryce had made her peace with May on that subject and the 
dying girl now longed for .the same words of forgiveness 
from the father. Tom Norwell had lain for weary weeks at 
the point of death, not caring to live. When the Wilsons 
had moved from their fine New York home to a modest res- 
idence in a suburban town of New Jersey he had been able, 
for the first time, to leave his room. Now a saddened, broken 
man he came daily to speak a few words with his dying loved 
one. Mr. Bryce had quietly but persistently refused a recon- 
ciliation. He was ready now to grant his child anything. 

“ Have you forgiven him? For my sake, father, please.” 

“ Yes, darling, I have forgiven him.” 

“And you will not grieve too much for me, will you?” 

“Oh, May! May! My child, my poor child. My 
heart is broken.” In spite of himself the gray-haired man 
burst into a fit of sobbing. For a moment a look of pain 
was on her worn features, but it soon passed and as his tears 
ceased to flow, her old happy look returned, the sunny look 
of her girlhood. 

“ It is only for a little while, father, and then we shall all 
meet, to be very happy.” 


AN IRON CROWN. 


54 1 


She lay in a seeming reverie for a few minutes, and on 
rousing herself, the bright eyes which were sunk deeply in 
the wasted sockets looked around the room. Several times 
this was repeated. 

“Do you wish anything, May?” asked the mother. 

“ Has he come yet? ” 

Mrs. Bryce walked into the little sitting room and met 
Norwell, who had just arrived. Whispering a few words in 
his ear she led him into the sick room. The two men shook 
hands without uttering a word, though tears trickled down: 
the cheeks of each. Then Tom took the hand of the sick 
girl. 

“ Can you ever forgive me, May? ” 

“ Oh Tom, that is all past. I can die happy now.” 

“ I can never forgive myself,” he answered with choking 
sobs.” 

“Please do not say that; for my sake will you try to for- 
get all? For my sake? ” 

“Yes May, I will try.” 

She smiled serenely, and was finally at peace. After a 
few minutes of silence she fell again into the old condition of 
reverie that was half sleep. Again there was a wish ex- 
pressed in her countenance. 

“ What is it, dear? ” 

“Alice and Mr. Wilson,” was the faint response. 

“ Shall I call them ? ” 

“ Yes.” 

The end was fast approaching. When Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
son came in, the same loving smile was the only recognition. 
No word was spoken as the five mourners gathered around 
the bedside. A half hour passed in silence. The birds no 
longer were noticed at the window. The sun sank low in 
the west but no one saw his going. The dying girl lay very 
still; the look of intelligence slowly faded from her eyes 
which were fixed vacantly on the wall, unless their attention 
was diverted by some movement in the room. Then for a 
moment they returned to the father and mother, only to fall 
into a vacant, far-off look again. 

An effort to speak was in vain. Only the word “ Mother ” 
very low, could be distinguished as Mrs. Bryce leaned over 
her dying child. There was a feeble struggle for breath, then 
perfect repose of mind and body. The eyes were fixed on 
the distant wall, and no longer recognized things of earth. 


54 2 


AN IRON CROWN. 


The breath came very feebly and with longer intervals, 
appeared to cease, then came again so weak as to be almost 
imperceptible, then ceased forever, and the soul of the Prairie 
Flower had bloomed again in a land where the flowers never 
fade and their perfume is eternal. 

******* 

The curiosity felt by mankind touching the affairs of other 
people will not allow this story to end without a few words 
of explanation as to the doings of the other characters in the 
book. Mr. Horace Roker’s dream of the future has suffered 
a terrible awakening. It has passed away forever with her 
who gave the vision its seductive possibility. Roker felt per- 
haps as much sorrow at the death of Chetta Ingledee as he 
was capable of feeling for any one. But his disappointment 
at seeing his long-cherished hope blighted in an instant was 
most poignant. 

Mr. Ingledee sees more of this than any one else and mis- 
taking Roker as he always has done, gives him credit for pos- 
sessing a fine feeling. We may only picture in our imagina- 
tion the proportions of Roker’s magnificent plans, for he con- 
fided fully in no one. He yet has plans which are left for 
time to develop. But one man guesses the extent of Roker’s 
ambition, and that man finds him indispensable under the pres- 
sure of business cares and the infirmities of growing age. To 
Henry Ingledee, Roker is now a necessity, and enjoying the 
unusual advantages of connection with so many millions, that 
cool, calculating, soulless man is rapidly becoming a power 
among the money kings of the land. Some day he will 
doubtless be a great railway king himself, as he possesses all 
the qualifications for that modern potentate, namely brains 
and brass in plenty, conscience, none at all. 

Mr. Ingledee himself has grown old in appearance. His 
hair once jet black is now silvery. The lines in his face have 
deepened. His step has no longer the proud elasticity of a 
few years ago. He lives alone in the great house surrounded 
by the evidences of vast wealth which he can not enjoy. 
The great hope of his life perished with his son. The death 
of his daughter was only an incident compared with that 
other crisis. He missed her, he mourned her, but not as he 
mourned that son in whom all the hopes and ambitions of 
his life centered. The death of his children has only 


AN IRON CROWN. 


543 


hardened the heart of Mr. Ingledee. The temporary gleam 
of a higher humanity that lighted his soul as he saw his child 
dying before him, disappeared with her, and now he is the 
same iron-willed man, grasping feverishly, nay almost anx- 
iously after more gold. This unholy lust of money has burned 
out of his soul nearly every generous impulse, though he still 
gives to charity, and sometimes a benefaction to some public 
institution. 

The very latest exploit of Mr. Ingledee and his partners 
in the way of business is an attempt to grab several million 
acres of public lands originally granted to a rival road, but 
which reverted to the people because no road was ever built 
in conformity with the act granting the lands. 

Ophir is still engaged in cornering stocks and skin- 
ning lambs in Wall street. The supply of juvenile mutton 
holds out wonderfully well. Occasionally he gets up a 
colossal squeeze and “milks” the street. His ways are no less 
peculiar than of old. Ophir knows better how to enjoy life 
than Ingledee. He spends much time with his family or in 
wandering through his vast greenhouses. Lately he has con- 
ceived the apparently innocent ambition of securing a speci- 
men of every kind of palm known. But Mr. Ophir is a man 
who will do to watch; perhaps he is trying to “corner” 
palms. 

From this picture of soulless extortion we turn to a more 
wholesome example. Pipe Malley, whom we first knew as 
a poor, ragged, illiterate newsboy has become a useful citizen. 
By industry, careful economy, and attention to business, he 
has obtained a good start in the world. He is now a cleanly, 
well-dressed man. His strength of character has given him 
an* assured ascendancy over his mother and Quill. If he at 
times draws the reins of family government rather tight it 
can be said in his defence that such a course is conducive to 
their common welfare. 

Quill is still on salary. His prospects of being a partner 
are somewhat dubious, for Pipe insists that only strict atten- 
tion to business will enable any one to earn promotion. Quill 
is one of the kind who are destined to go through life in a 
hand-to-mouth way. His speech is not yet regulated strictly 
by the rules of syntax, and his heels still occasionally essay a 
breakdown in Pipe’s absence and when business is dull. 
The twins still gratefully remember their old teacher and 
benefactor, Chetta Ingledee. It may be of interest to the 


544 


AN IRON CROWN. 


student of human natare to add that each at times says that 
Chetta made him what he is. 

Mrs. Malley, since her sons have done so well in the 
world, no longer toils at the washtub but spends her time in 
housekeeping duties. Mary Hackett still works in the 
bindery. Aunt Rhoda is getting very old and childish. She 
seldom goes out. Occasionally Mary takes her to call on 
their dear friend, Mrs. Wilson. After these visits the old lady 
is usually inclined to indulge in reflections on the past, and 
frequently mentions All*. Tom, and the boy whose grave is 
under the pines in that far-off mountain land. 

Austin Hickley is still in the law, and the Honorable 
Dave Sawder is still in politics, which is perhaps all that the 
reader cares to know about him. 

The Snicker family is still in the social swim. The Old 
Commoner is assiduously scooping a million out of sugar, in 
spite of his daughter’s protest that the feat has been per- 
formed often enough already. Mr. Fred Snicker is still indus- 
triously doing society with his little cane and his wainbow- 
layered perfumes. Miss Harrie Snicker having failed to cap- 
ture a live lord or a mining millionaire has received All*. 
Bradley again into favor much against the will of paterfami- 
lias. The Gallic tongue has gone out of fashion, and she is 
again obliged to speak the vernacular for want of a more 
. available medium. Mr. Bradley is more than ever devoted 
to his great purpose seconded so ably by Miss Harrie, though 
the labor of his herculean task is beginning to tell on him 
and his duties begin to wear a perfunctory air. 

Arthur Wilson managed to save a competence from the 
wreck of his affairs. In a quiet little cottage surrounded by 
vines and shrubbery, in a suburban village, over in New Jersey, 
live the Wilsons, a very happy pair. As Arthur comes home 
from his business at six o’clock, he is met by the smiling face 
of his wife, who holds in her arms a crowing, bright-faced, 
chubby boy, who is just beginning to say u Papa,” a linguistic 
feat that is usually hailed with intense satisfaction by young 
parents, but the exact period of whose satisfactory accomplish- 
ment is not so well defined to the ear of a disinterested person. 
Sometimes Mrs. Wilson complains that it is unfair for him 
always to kiss Baby before he kisses the mother, but there 
never was a family without its little differences. Wilson is no 
longer possessed with desire for great wealth. The lessons 
of experience have sunk deeply, and his constant reflection 
now is that plenty is enough for any man. 


AN IRON CROWN. 


545 


In a secluded valley in the Rocky Mountains by the side 
of a clear rushing stream stands a solitary cabin. Its tenant 
is a ranchman who sells his produce in the neighboring min- 
ing camps. He lives alone in the simple manner of a moun- 
taineer. His robust frame is slightly bowed though he is still 
a young man, and his fine face has an expression of habitual 
thoughtfulness. He has no intimate friends, though a man 
known far and wide for his hospitality and his habitual 
kindness alike to stranger or friend. In his bronzed counte- 
nance, which is half concealed by heavy whiskers and shaded 
by a huge sombrero, the observant eye may recognize our 
old friend Tom Norwell. 


35 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


OPINIONS OF NOTED MEN. 

Lest some may think that the author of this work is needlessly 
alarmed at the dangers to free government threatened in the growing 
abuses of corporate power, the following utterances of eminent men 
are given in evidence. They are only a few' out of hundreds of similar 
import which might be adduced. 

‘‘I am persuaded that the next great question to be confronted will be 
that of corporations and their relations to the interests of the people and 
to national life. The fear is now entertained by many of our best men 
that the National and State Legislatures of the Union, in creating these 
vast corporations have evoked a spirit which may escape and defy their 
control, and w'hich may wield a pow'er greater than Legislatures 
themselves.” Jas. A. Garfield. 

House of Representatives, Dec. 16, 1869. 

“ Complaints have lately been numerous and urgent that, certain 
corporations, controlling in whole or in part the facilities for the inter- 
state carriage of persons and merchandise, over the great railroads of 
the country, have resorted in their dealings v r ith the public to divers 
measures unjust and oppressive in their character.” 

Message of President Arthur, Dec. 4, 18S3. 

“ Great corporations and consolidated monopolies are fast seizing 
the avenues of pow r er that lead to the control of the government. It 
is an open secret that they rule states through procured legislatures 
and corrupted courts ; that they are strong in Congress; and that they 
are unscrupulous in the use of means to conquer prejudice and acquire 
influence. This condition of things is truly alarming, for unless it be 
changed quickly and thoroughly, free institutions are doomed to be 
subverted by an oligarchy resting on a basis of money and corporate 
powder.” " Hon. David Davis, 

Ex- Associate Justice of U. S. Supreme Court. 

“All public men must take their sides on this question. There can 
be no neutrals. He that is not for us is against us. We must have legal 
protection against these abuses. This agitation once begun, and the 
magnitude of the grievance being understood, it will force our rulers to 
give us a remedy against it. The monopolists will resist with all their 
arts and influences, but fifty millions of people in process of time will 
learn that they are fifty millions strong.” 

Hon. J. S. Black, 

Ex- Attorney General of the United States. 

(546) 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


547 


“ The channels of thought and the channels of commerce thus 
owned by one man or a body of men, what is to restrain corporate power 
or fix a limit to its exactions on the people? What is there to hinder 
these men from depressing or inflating the value of all kinds of prop- 
ert} r to suit their caprice or avarice, and thereby gathering into their own 
coffers the wealth of the nation ? What shall be said of the spirit of a 
free people who will submit without protest to be thus bound, hand and 
foot?” Hon. Wm. Windom, 

Ex-Secretary of Treasury of U. S. 

“ In my judgment, the republic can not long live in the atmosphere 
which now surrounds the ballot box. Moneyed corporations to secure 
favorable legislation for themselves are taking an active part in elections 
by furnishing large sums of money to corrupt the voter and purchase 
special privileges from the government. If money can control the 
decision of the ballot box, it will not be long till it can control its 
existence.” 

Message of Gov. Gray, of Indiana. 

In contrast with the above, read the following remarkable utterance 
of William Walter Phelps, a millionaire Congressman from New Jer- 
sey, in his speech on the Reagan Inter-State Commerce Bill, as pub- 
lished in the Congressional Record of Dec. 12, 1884. If he speaks the 
sentiment of railroad men, their attitude on this question is certainly 
plain enough. It is an open defiance of the people, and a challenge of 
their right to make their own laws. 

“ The railways, if these restrictions should become laws, will osten- 
tatiously break them all. That will challenge public attention, and public 
attention is redress. Or they will issue an order that the whole railroad 
system shall obey, that every locomotive from sea to sea shall stay in its 
roundhouse.” 

When that edict goes forth, let the people issue another, abrogating 
the charter of every railroad in the United States. 


NOTE I. 

THE MUSSEL SLOUGH TRAGEDIES. 

“ It is not surprising that another tragedy has been added to the dark 
history of the Mussel Slough country. It is simply another chapter in 
the old story of the conflict of might against right; of a long succession 
of deep and deadly injuries ripening in a harvest of blood ; of the oppressed 
striking at the oppressors; of the victims of injustice and cruelty turning, 
as even a worm will turn, and stinging the feet that trample on them. 
It has been so in every land under the sun, and will be so long as the 
world lasts. Traced to its source, the bitter enmities engendered flow 
from greed and avarice. The conflict is simply one wherein organized 
wealth has sought to rob the settler of his home, for the railroads will 
pillage the farmer of his house and lands as readily as they rob the mer- 
chant and tradesman. Everything is fish which comes to the railroad 


54 8 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


net. It is not necessary for the * Examiner ’ to relate the history of 
these contests. They are familiar to the people of the State. Such 
robberies have been so common as to have lost even the semblance of 
novelty. * * * 

“Two men, McAuliffe and Riley, were the other day put in pos- 
session, as railroad tenants, of settler Cockrell’s property. Yesterday 
McAuliffe was found dead, shot through the heart.” 

— San Francisco Examiner , Nov. 13, 1883. 

See also the powerful story by C. C. Post, “ Driven from Sea to 
Sea,” page 10, on Iowa case. Also page 322, et seq. on Southern Pacific 
case alluded to above. 

NOTE II. 


COST OF THE PACIFIC RAILROADS AND THEIR SUBSIDIES. 

The Report of the House Judiciary Committee, which investigated 
this subject in connection with the Credit Mobilier, showed these facts 
in connection with the three sub-contracts for building the Union Pacific. 
Actual cost to Credit Mobilier: 

Hoxie Contract $ 7)806,183.33 

Ames “ 27,285,141.99 

Davis “ 15,629,633 .62 

$5°>7 2 °)958.94 

Charged to Union Pacific Railroad Company by Credit Mobilier: 

Hoxie Contract $12,974,416.24 

Ames “ 57,140,102.94 

Davis u 23,431,768.10 

$93^46,287.28 

Difference (profits) 42,825,328.34 

To which add $1,104,000 for 58 miles already paid for. . . . 1,104,000.00 

Total steal $43,929,328.34 

The Contract and Finance Company, composed of C. P. Hunting- 
ton, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, E. B. Crocker, and Mark Hop- 
kins, built the Central Pacific from Sacramento east. Although they 
escaped Congressional investigation, there is no doubt that they employed 
like methods with similar profitable results. Their profits have been 
estimated in the following manner. The actual cost of the Union 
Pacific was $50,000,000, length, 1,008 miles (allowing the Company’s 
own excessive figures, which are about double what they should be.) 
The Central Pacific, which is 150 miles shorter, could not have cost 
more. Therefore, credit the Central Pacific with that amount. Charge 
the Credit and Finance Company with the following: 

U. S. Subsidy bonds Central Pacific. ... $25,885,120 

“ “ “ Western “ absorbed by Central Pacific 1,970,560 

First mortgage bonds, Act of ’64 28,000,000 

Stock Central Pacific 54,000,000 

Land Bonds 10,000,000 


$119,855,680 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


549 


Here is a clear profit on construction alone of over $69,000,000. 
The profits of this road are ordinarily about $10,000,000 per year. The 
combined wealth of all these men before they began the building of the 
Central Pacific Road was less than $100,000. Was there ever a greater 
gift to any body of men or to any corporation, since the dawn of 
history? 

SUMMARY. 

The Pacific Railroad construction transactions may be summarized 
as follows: 2,000 miles of roads, at the company’s excessive figures of 
$50,000 per mile cost $100,000,000, but in reality not over $55,000,000. 


The company received to pay for this : 

U. S. bonds $55,000,000 

Their own first mortgage bonds 50,000,000 

Stock which the law required to be sold at par, but for which 
they did not pay over 30 cents on the dollar (in fraudu- 
lent contracts) 90,000,000 

Land bonds, 21,000,000 acres 20,000,000 


$215,000,000 

Profit (steal) $160,000,000 

The above estimate gives land bonds at $20,000,000, while, in fact, 
the lands were worth from $1 to $6 per acre, or a total of, say, 
$70,000,000 at $3.50 per acre. It is reasonable, therefore, to estimate 
the entire Pacific Railroad steal, in all its crooked phases, at two hundred 
a?id ten million dollars. 

THE PACIFIC LAND GRANTS. 

“ Independent of the postponement of our vast debt to a private 
debt, we gave them, as the judiciary committee show in their report, 
coal lands alone, as their directors say, larger than all the anthracite coal 
fields of Pennsylvania. We gave them 21,000,000 acres of land, or over 
33,000 square miles, more territory than is contained in the six States of 
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jer- 
sey and Delaware, all of this vast domain being within twelve miles of 
a trans-continental railroad.” — Speech of Senator Beck. 

WHAT THE PACIFIC RAILROAD STOCK IS. 

“This ninety millions of stock, claiming dividends, standing between 
the companies and their obligations to the government, does not repre- 
sent one dollar nor the phantom of a dollar. If it represents anything, 
it is simply an arbitrary profit upon fraudulent contracts. The assump- 
tion that it is actual capital is a bare, naked assumption, without a fig- 
leaf covering of fact.” — Speech of Senator Booth. 

And yet it has paid as high as fifteen per cent, annual dividends. 

the credit mobilier by one who knows. 

Question. Then what purpose had you to propose to build a road 


55 ° 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


that had already been built by the company at a cost to them of less than 
the amount mentioned in your proposition?* 

Answer . We were identical in interest. The Credit Mobilier and 
the Union Pacific Railroad were the same identical parties; we were 
building it for ourselves, by ourselves, and among ourselves; there was 
not $20,000 outside in it. 

I. M. S. Williams.-)- 


NOTE III. 

CORRUPTION MONEY. 

Jay Gould’s testimony before a New York legislative investigating 
committee, 1873: 

“ I do not know how much I paid toward helping friendly men. 
We had four States to look after, and we had to suit our politics to 
circumstances. In a Democratic district I was a Democrat; in a Repub- 
lican district I was a Republican ; and in a doubtful district I was 
doubtful ; but in every district and at all times, I have always been an 
Erie man.” 

Further investigation in the same direction developed the fact that 
the Erie Railroad Company paid out in one year one million dollars for 
corrupt purposes. 

Testimony before a committee of the New York Constitutional 
Convention. 

Edwin D. Worcester, sworn: I am treasurer of the New York 
Central Railroad Company, and have been for two years; was assistant 
treasurer for two years previous. 

Question . Do you know of the New York Central Railroad Com- 
pany paying out considerable amounts of money during the sessions of 
legislation? 

Answer . Yes, considerable amounts of money. 

Suites. I think you have succeeded in procuring legislation for two 
or three years past. 

Ans. Yes, we succeeded in getting the legislation. 

£hies. Were the expenses attending the application paid by the 
president of the road? 

Ans. I can state the amount of money he had ; the whole amount 
was $205,000. 

Ques. How are the items or entries made in your books with refer- 
ence to the expenditure of this $205,000? 

Ans. There were no entries made with regard to these disburse- 
ments. 

The Supreme Court record at Washington shows (I am told) in 
Vol. II., Transcript Rec. 1877, that one Joseph B. Stewart, a lobbyist, 
states with reference to the Pacific Railroad legislation of 1864, that he 
received two hundred and fifty $1,000 railroad construction bonds, to 
be used to “further the purposes which the railroad company desired to 
forward in Washington.” 


♦The allusion, “road already built,” refers to a large portion already built which 
was counted in a new contract, and paid for a second time. 

fOne of the contractors before a Committee of the House of Representatives. 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


55 1 


NOTE IV. 

THE POOR OF NEW YORK. 

In one front and rear building covering a lot 25 by 95 feet, were 
found 258 persons. In three rooms, two of which were mere closets, 
without windows or openings into the halls, twenty-five persons were 
living. In another case, a family consisting of father, mother and four 
children, took in fourteen boarders, though occupying but three rooms. 
A family of five were discovered in a filthy cellar, which they shared 
with fifteen geese. 

— Report of Sanitary Aid Society of Tenth Ward , New York, April, 1885. 

NOTE V. 

BUSINESS OR GAMBLING ? 

“ Let any one visit the exchanges and look on for a few minutes for 
himself; no gambling hell in any part of the world will show a madder 
throng, or more passionate playing. This was formerly true only of the 
stock exchange, but it is becoming more and more the leading feature of 
the several trade exchanges, and shows the character of the business 
therein transacted.” 

— N. Y. Journal op Commerce . 

FICTITIOUS SALES OF PETROLEUM. 

“ Less than 25,000,000 barrels of petroleum were produced last year; 
yet there were seven billion , one hundred and eighty -one million barrels sold 
upon the two petroleum exchanges of this city, and the one at Pittsburgh. 
The transactions were two- hundred and eighty-seven times greater than 
the year’s yield, or, in other words, for every barrel of crude oil pro- 
duced, 287 barrels were sold.” 

— Justice. — N. Y . Jan. 24, 18S5. 

NOTE VI. 

BREACH OF FRIENDSHIP. 

Lest the betrayal of Mr. Nor well by Ophir may seem extravagantly 
unnatural, the reader is referred to several similar conspicuous cases, 
which have actually occurred, and which have been carried to the courts 
for adjustment. For obvious reasons the names of the litigants are not 
mentioned here, but the reader who is conversant with such matters will 
at once recall them. 

NOTE VII. 

ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH. 

It has been estimated by a newspaper writer that the combined 
wealth of all the men worth a million dollars or over gives an equivalent 
of twenty thousand millionaires in the United States, and that, as the 
average wealth of all citizens is only $1,000, for each millionaire, there 
must be 1,000 people who have nothing, and for twenty thousand million- 


55 2 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


aires some twenty million jzaufiers, supposing the remaining wealth dis- 
tributed as far as it would go at the rate of $1,000 per person. Of these 
fortunes twenty average one hundred millions each. 

NOTE VIII. 

VENALITY OF LEGISLATORS. 

Theodore Roosevelt, in the Century Magazine for April, 1885, esti- 
mates that one-third of all the members of our state legislatures are open 
to bribery in some form or other. He bases this estimate chiefly on his 
long observation as a member of the Legislature of New York. 

NOTE IX. 

BOGUS DIVIDENDS. 

The men who controlled the Wabash system, some years ago, paid 
from their own pockets (if the newspaper press is to be credited) divi- 
dends which the road had never earned, in order to advance the stock of 
the company far beyond its real value, and enable them to unload it on 
an unsuspecting public. The managers of this swindle secured through 
it many millions of dollars. 


NOTE X. 

ARBITRARY CHANGES OF RATES. 

June 24, 1884 — Special class, grain, flour, etc., 20 cents; seventh class 
and live hogs, 25 cents; eighth class, 25 cents; ninth class, 30 cents. 
July 21, 1884 — Special class, grain, etc., 25 cents; seventh class and live 
hogs, 30 cents; eighth class, 25 cents; ninth class, 35 cents. 

This is an advance of three cents per bushel on wheat. If the rail- 
roads could carry grain from Chicago to New York for twenty cents per 
hundred in June, why could they not do the same in July? Their ans- 
wer, if they chose to give one, would be a series of evasions and specious 
reasons existing only in their own minds. The real reason for the 
advance is, they know they have the jzower to get it , and if pressed for 
explanations, Mr. Gould, Mr. Vanderbilt or Mr. Huntington would prob- 
ably reply in the language of Boss Tweed, “ What are you going to do 
about it? ” 

CHANGES OF RATES IN EUROPE. 

In England every railroad company is obliged to place a book of 
rates in every station. This book must remain open to public inspection. 
In Prussia six weeks notice must be given before any change of rates 
goes into effect. 

DO RAILROADS EVER LOWER FREIGHT CHARGES VOLUNTARILY? 

1 

“The (Omaha) vouches for the fact that freight rates in some 
parts of Nebraska are higher than in 1879. The people of Butler and 
Polk counties alone could have saved two hundred thousand dollars, if 
their wheat and corn could have been carried this year (1884) at the same 
rates as in 1879. I n case °* a cattle shipment it mentions, the rate in 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


553 


Nebraska was $42.85 per car for one hundred miles, while the same ship- 
ment was charged, on its way through Iowa and Illinois, but nine dollars 
per car for one hundred miles.” — Chicago Tribune , Dec., 1884. 

NOTE XI. 

ARBITRARY POWER OF CORPORATIONS. 

“A committee of the United States Senate reported six years ago, 
that, even at that time, the men who controlled the four great trunk lines 
between New York and Chicago, could, by a single stroke of the pen, 
reduce the value of property in this country by hundreds of millions of 
dollars. * * * No Congress would dare to exercise so vast a power 
except upon a necessity of the most imperative nature.” 

— N. T. Ti??ies, Dec. 6, 1880. 

TAXES ON INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 

“ Every quarter of a cent decline in the price of wheat means a loss 
in the marketable value of the wheat crop of the country of one million 
dollars, and within a few days the value of the wheat crop has decreased 
well on to twenty millions of dollars. But railroad rates remain substan- 
tially the same as one year ago, when wheat fetched one dollar per 
bushel in Chicago, and in many cases, as we have shown, they are higher 
than they were. 

“ When the railroads have had good years they have doubled their 
stock, as the Rock Island did a few years ago; or they have accumulated 
a surplus, like that of the North Western, which now amounts to thirty 
millions; or they have stretched half way across the continent, like the 
Burlington. When there come bad years, like those now upon us, the 
railroads insist that the poor farmer shall continue to make good all this 
pile of Wall street fictions. He must go on paying dividends on all the 
capitalization of all the locomotives, cars, and rails the roads ever had, 
although a larger part of them have since been worn out. * * * * * 
Wall street has planted itself on what it fondly believed to be its 
impregnable power to extort whatever it wanted. ‘ Only over our roads 
and on our terms shall you market your produce.’ ” 

— Chicago Tribune , Dec., 1884. 

IS THERE ANY REAL COMPETITION BETWEEN RAILROADS? 

It might be well for those guileless innocents who think that rail- 
roads do really compete with one another, to reflect that the entire United 
States is accurately subdivided and assigned to several great fools , such 
as the “Eastern Pool,” the “Western Trunk Line Association,” the 
“Southwestern Pool,” the “ Southern Pool,” the “ Pacific Pool,” which 
includes the Pacific Mail Steamship Company navigating the Pacific 
Ocean, which latter pond, supposed to belong to mankind in general, has 
lately been discovered to be the private property of Huntington, Stan- 
ford, Crocker & Co. 

These pools are controlled by Albert Fink and his associate “ high 
joints” of the commission. He is the great mogul who dictates to 55,- 
000,000 of people iust what they shall pay for every pound of freight 
fetched or carried. 


554 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


Hon. Charles A. Sumner, of California, in a speech delivered in the 
House of Representatives, Jan 7, 18S5, tabulates the Pacific railroad 
properties as follows: 


Companies controlled bv the Union Pacific 56 

“ “ “ “ Central “ 33 

“ “ “ “ U. P. <fe C. P. jointly 4 

“ “ “ “ C. P. Huntington 12 


Total 105 


Does this look like competition ? 

Dillaye, five years ago, estimated that Gould, Vanderbilt, Garrett, the 
Pennsylvania railroad, and one or two other interests controlled six hun- 
dred millio?is of the railway capital of the country. In a few years, doubt- 
less, the total will be a thousand millions absolutely in the hands of four 
or five men. Furthermore, they can, by traffic arrangements, control, 
almost completely, perhaps twice as much more. Are they not trulj r 
uncrowned kings? It may be urged that these great interests are com- 
petitive. At times they are; but that they can combine in a manner 
dangerous to the liberties of the people is only too well evidenced in the 
building up of the monstrous Standard Oil Company monopoly. 

Every reader interested in this subject, should read the debates on 
the Reagan “ Inter-State Commerce Bill.” See Cong. Rec., session 
of 84-85. 

NOTE XII. 

THE MINING INDUSTRY. 

One of the principal mining men of Utah recently declared that: 
“ ‘ With the present low rates for lead, and high rates of transportation we 
might as well turn our ores right over to the railroad companies.’ This 
was by no means an exaggerated statement of the condition of affairs in 
Utah, and matters have long been worse in Nevada. Hundreds of good 
mines adjacent to the line of the Central Pacific Railroad are idle to-day 
as they have been for years, because the rates for transporting ores to San 
Francisco, Salt Lake, or other points where facilities for reduction could 
be obtained, were too high to leave the mine owner any adequate com- 
pensation for his toil and risk in prospecting for ore, extracting it from 
the mine, and hauling it to the railroad. The railroad will not fix a price 
per ton for hauling ores; it must have a percentage — ‘all the goods will 
bear.’ ” — Virginia (Ncv.), Chronicle, Dec., 1884. 

NOTE XIII. 

STAND AND DELIVER. 

These statements are no hyberbole, but disagreeable facts. The 
maxim “ Charge all the traffic will bear,” is one that railroad men are dis- 
posed to adopt whenever they dare. Instance the seventy-jive jer cent. 
discrimination against dressed meats, in favor of live stock. It is a fla- 
grant attempt to crush a new industry, because the railroads are interested 
in stock-yards, and other appurtenances of the old. The Central Pacific 
Railroad charges $300 per car from Omaha to San Francisco, and $Soo 
per car to Reno, Nev., which is a less distance by several hundred miles. 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


555 


\ 


They charge through rates from Omaha to San Francisco, and then add 
local rates back again to Reno, although the goods stop at Reno and 
never reach San Francisco. Furthermore, they compel merchants of 
San Francisco to subject their private business to inspection, and submit to 
examination of their books. This could not be done by any other power 
in the world, except, perhaps, the Czar of Russia. Where is the spirit 
of ’76? 

Also see speech of Congressman Daggett of Nevada, Feb. 25, 1881, 
introducing resolutions of the Legislature of Nevada. 

UNJUST DISCRIMINATIONS. 

An excellent illustration of the absurdity of the claims of railroad 
men that discriminations in freight rates are often necessary, is seen in 
the fact that the rates on sugar were one cent per pound from San Fran- 
cisco to New York, and two cents from New York to San Francisco. 
Does it cost any more to run a train west than east? The answer is, that 
this discrimination is intended to build up the notorious Spreckels sugar 
monopoly, and make another money baron. 

NOTE XIV. 

» • 

PROFITS OF RAILROADS AND OTHER CORPORATIONS. 

Poor’s Manual, and other trustworthy authorities, estimate that thv 
railroads of the United States should not cost over $25,000 per mile, 
including rolling stock and all equipments. (See note 18, Mexican 
National). The debates on the Reagan bill last winter (’S4~’85) developed 
many additional facts bearing on this subject. The entire railroad capital 
of the United States including bonds, stocks, floating debts, etc., is in 
round numbers about seven thousand millions. The number of miles of 
road is a fraction over 121,000. At $25,000 per mile, this would give the 
real value of the whole about three thousand millions. Hence the other 
four thousand millions is water which the people of the United States 
are obliged to consider as real capital, and pay interest on accordingly. 
The defenders of railroad abuses admit that this seven thousand millions 
pays an average interest of three per cent, per annum. Hence on this 
basis the people pay three per cent, on four thousand millions of fictitious 
capital which never had any existence, or a total of one hundred and 
twenty millions per year , or about $2.20 for each man, woman, and child 
in the country. Part of this is a gratuitous contribution to Mr. Vander- 
bilt, whose income is estimated at from ten to fifteen dollars fer minute. 

The railroads carried in 1883 in round numbers four hundred million 
tons of freight, and received for transporting, both freightand passengers, 
something over eight hundred million dollars. Their profits were, in 
round numbers, three hundred and thirty-three millions. Now taking 
the actual investment at three thousand millions, as above, these figures 
show a net profit of over ten per cent, instead of the three per cent, 
claimed by these railroad advocates who are defending usurpation. 

Furthermore, this state of things, instead of improving, is growing 
worse. Congressman George, of Oregon (Cong. Record of Dec. 20, 
18S4), estimates that, of the new roads, those built in 1879 are capitalized 
at $57,730 per mile, while those built in 1SS3 have crept up to $62,174 per 
mile. These latter were built when the cost of labor and materials was 
much less than in 1879. This upsets the plea of railroad men that most of 


556 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


the roads now in use were built when prices were greatly inflated, and, 
consequently, cost more than they would now. Admitting that they did 
cost more; must the public make good the shrinkage on property caused 
by the natural laws of trade? Who indemnifies the owner of a house 
which was built when prices were inflated, at a cost of $10,000 and which 
is now worth only $5,000? A thing is worth only what it can he duplicated 
for . The truth is that railroad affairs in this country are honeycombed 
and saturated through and through with rascality. 

T. B. THURBER’S TESTIMONY. 

“ How great this tax is may be inferred from the fact that the receipts 
of the railroads of this State (New York) as given in the report of the 
State Engineer and Surveyor, exceed $90,000,000, and I have seen it 
stated, and I believe it to be true, that probably one-half of this sum 
would pay ten per cent, interest on the capital actually paid by stock and 
bond holders in providing these facilities. The entire revenues of the 
State of New York derived from taxation are in the neighborhood of 
$8,000,000 and a great hue and cry is raised whenever it is proposed to 
increase this sum, even for the most necessary purposes, while all the 
time the public are* sustaining a taxation in the shape of excessive 
charges for transportation many times greater than the entire amount 
required for the expense of the government.” 

T. B. Thurber, Wholesale Grocer. 

Before Cong , Com . of Labor , Aug. 24, 1878. 

TELEPHONE AND GAS PROFITS. 

“ In the city of Philadelphia the Bell Telephone Company paid last 
year $229,600 dividends on a capital of $560,000, or a profit of forty-one 
per cent.” 

How many farmers net six per cent, on their investments one year 
with another? 

“ An investigation by the New York Senate into the cost of gas, and 
prices charged consumers, developed the following facts in the testimony 
of President Kennedy of the Mutual Gas Company. In 1874 the Com- 
pany charged consumers $2.75 per thousand feet, the gas costing $1.03. 
In 1884 the price charged was $2.16, while the cost was only forty-six 
cents per thousand feet. President Kennedy was reluctant to tell what 
had been the cost of the Company’s plant.” 

— Dispatch to Chicago Tribune Feb. 27, 1SS5. 

PACIFIC MAIL. 

“The Pacific Mail Steamship Company in 1873 did not absolutely 
own one iron steamer. Out of their earnings in the past ten years they 
have paid for nineteen iron steamships, have a million dollars in their 
treasury, and are now (1884) paying a quarterly dividend at the rate of 
five per cent, per annum.” 

— Rufus Hatch in N. T. Times. 

This Company has the modesty to ask a government subsidy, and 
receives a large bonus from the Pacific Railroad to kill competition. 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


557 


NOTE XV. 

INTIMIDATION OF COURTS. 

“ I have heard the counsel of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 
standing in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, threaten that Court 
with the displeasure of his clients if it decided against them, and all the 
blood in my body tingled with shame at the humiliating spectacle/’ 

— Prest. Gowan, of the Phila. a?id Reading R. 7?., before a 

Committee of the House of Representatives . 

NOTE XVI. 

UNTAXABLE PROPERTY. 

In Jersey City there are many millions of valuable railroad property 
and franchises forever exempt from taxation because of favorable legisla- 
tion by corrupt or short-sighted boards of aldermen. But that, perhaps, 
makes little difference so long as corporations and wealthy men can evade 
taxation by bribing assessors. It is only the poor, and those of moderate 
means who must pay their taxes in full. 

An investigating committee of the Illinois State Senate (1885) found 
its inquiries continually thwarted, and its deliberations hampered by the 
refusal of the representatives of corporations to answer questions con- 
cerning their capital and profits. Judging by their answers the inference 
is legitimate that nearly all corporations are managed by ignoramuses, 
and on the point of bankruptcy. One important fact was elicited — 
namely, that two. or three corporations absolutely ignored the assessor , and 
declined to give any information concerning their taxable property . 

NOTE XVII. 

THE HOCKING VALLEY STRIKE. 

The gates of the coal banks are closed, the chief stores have their 
shutters constantly down, the iron furnaces stand cold and grim by the 
roadside; brick yards, lumber mills and machine houses are abandoned. 
The workmen are idle and destitute, and the hand of charity feeds them 
and their families. The miners sit sullenly about the day long without 
money in their pockets, food in their houses, or hope in their hearts. 
Almost without exception the men are workless, their families ill fed, 
poorly clad, and miserably housed. Their faces are stolid, and the ex- 
pression of their features that of despair. Eighteen months ago the men 
were paid seventy cents per ton in summer and eighty cents in winter. 
Since the “ Syndicate ” took control the men have been given work not 
more than one-third of the time. During the four months preceding last 
June their earnings averaged about $30 per month per man. At fifty 
cents per ton [the new rate] life could barely be supported as an animal 
is kept — something to eat, a place to sleep, a place to work. The com- 
pany evidently regards the men as no better than animals. The mine, 
the coal hopper, the stables, the houses are the company’s property. 
The men and the mules are their servants. When the company thinks 
best it closes the mine, locks the hopper, turns the mules out to 
pasture, and if the miner fails in his rent turns him out into the woods. 


55 s 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


Miserable houses on worthless bits of ground, the whole premises worth 
not more than $200, brought from $60 to $90 per year in rents. Goods 
at the company’s store sold from five to twenty-five per cent, higher than 
at the stores of individuals. 

The plea that labor has been overpaid does not excuse the reduction. 
The Hocking Company’s competitors pay seventy cents. This is the 
price in the valley of the Tuscarawas at Mahoning and Coshocton. 
Moreover, mines in the Hocking Valley owned by W. P. Rend & Co., 
of Chicago, pay seventy cents. Notwithstanding the reduction in 
wages, the “Syndicate” now charges one-quarter of a cent per bushel 
more for coal in Columbus than it did before. 

— Condensed from the Chicago Herald of Oct. 12 , 1884. 

REND & CO.’s FIGHT IN THE HOCKING VALLEY. 

To show that monopolists work together in defiance of right and 
law, the experiences of W. P. Rend & Co. are of great interest. The 
Hocking Valley R. R. Co., in aid of the Mining Co. in its contest with 
the strikers, refused to furnish Rend & Co. cars to transport their coal. 
An injunction, issued from the proper court, ordering them to furnish the 
cars. Then the Railroad Co. demanded full local rates prepaid, which 
amounted to a defiance of the court. It was only after a summons to 
show cause whv they should not be punished for contempt, that the com- 
pany reluctantly succumbed to the powers that be. 

THE PENNSYLVANIA MINES. 

In Pennsylvania affairs were in some instances as bad as in Ohio. 
•/ 

To the farmer who works for fifteen dollars per month, board and lodging 
found, thirty dollars per month may seem large wages. But he must 
remember that miners often cannot work more than one-third of the 
year. Then their employment is very hazardous. In England mining 
was formerly (according to Adam Smith) considered worth three times 
the price of ordinary labor on account of the risk. 

In Pennsylvania the coal lands are owned by the railroad companies. 
One of these great companies agreed to pay its men on a sliding scale, 
according to the price of coal at the mines. It then kept the price the 
same, but doubled its rates of transportation , thus doubling its profit. The 
companies also demanded that the men sign an agreement waiving all 
their rights imder the statutes framed for the protection of miners. Also 
asked the abolition of the checkweighman, whose business it is to see 
fair weight and proper credits. Can freemen sign sc degrading an agree- 
ment? Who will say that strikes are wholly unjustifiable in such cases? 

NOTE XVIII. 

ACTUAL COST OF RAILROAD BUILDING. 

Railroad men in this countrv claim that the actual cost of building a 
mile of road is from $25,000 to $30,000. The rolling stock, equipments, 
depots and terminal facilities it is claimed about double these figures. 
The total capitalization of the railroads of the United States runs from 
fifty thousand to seventy thousand dollars per mile. In the face of these 
figures the actual cost of the Mexican National (an expensive road) as 
given below, is very interesting reading to the public. 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


559 


“ The building being done in a foreign country has involved excep- 
tional elements of cost, and much of it has been through a mountainous 
region, and in ascending the plateau from the level of the sea. Notwith- 
standing, it is being built and equipped at a cost not exceeding $20,000 
per mile, the original estimate. This includes organizing the whole 
system, and the building of the most expensive sections of the northern 
and southern ends, including one division from the City of Mexico to 
Toluca, forty six miles, crossing a mountain range at 10,000 feet above 
the level of the ocean, which cost about seventy-five thousand dollars per 
miie.” 

Wm. J. Palmer, Pres’t Mex. Nat. Railway. 

— in N. T. Times , Dec. 30, 18S4. 

NOTE XIX. 

WHO MEETS TIIEIR LOSSES? 

“ One little item of news that has not had the attention it deserved is 
that the much-watered New York Central Road had to sell bonds during 
the last fiscal year to get money to pay its dividends with. Its earnings 
were $1,400,000 less than its expenses, and the deficit was made up by 
the sale of bonds, of which $5,000,000 were added to its indebtedness. Its 
capital is $89,000,000, more than half of it water. In 186S there was a 
scrip dividend of 80 per cent., and in 1869, upon the consolidation of the 
Central with the Hudson River Road, a scrip dividend of 27 per cent, 
more was made on Central and one of 85 per cent, on the Hudson River 
stock. Here we have a perfect illustration of the attitude of these Wall 
street railroad men to the rest of the country. They create paper obliga- 
tions far in excess of the value of their properties, and then insist that, no 
matter whether crops are short or whether their own management has 
been imbecile or corrupt, the country must be milked to pay dividends 
on their ‘tissue ballots.’ The New York Central was plunged last year 
into a railroad war, of which there has never been but one intelligible 
explanation. That is, that it was conceived and executed for the purely 
speculative purposes of its Vanderbilt managers. Millions were lost 
which the public must pay. Railroad debt is really public debt. The 
people pay it — principal and interest. To have it created by methods 
like those of the New York Central is a form of public robbery which 
must be stopped — ‘peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.’” 

— Chicago Tribune, 1885. 


NOTE XX. 

HOW DO THEY GET IT? 

“A remarkable fact attending all the great railroads of the United 
States is the immense wealth of their leading officials. It is confined to 
no state, and is exceptional to all other employments. The grandest 
talent and greatest learning, in law, phasic, and other learned avocations, 
accumulate a few thousands in a lifetime; but railroad officials, after 
rising from mere clerkships, roundsmen, ticket and other agents, with 
salaries running from hundreds to a few thousands, eventuate as pos- 
sessors of many millions. It is no uncommon thing to see a railroad 
president, rising from the humblest station, in the course of fifteen or 


5 6 ° 


NOTES TO AN IRON CROWN. 


twenty years become the owner of five, ten or twenty millions, at a 
salary which would not average for the whole time over ten or twelve 
thousand dollars. These are mysteries that the common people cannot 
understand.” 

Hon. David Agnew, 

Ex’Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. 

NOTE XXI. 

THE REBATE SWINDLE. 

The following table is from “Monopolies; Their Origin, Growth 
and Development,” by Stephen B. Dillaye. 

The Standard Oil Company received in rebates (of $1.00 per barrel) 
from Oct. 17, 1S77, to March 31, 1879, about eighteen months, as follows: 

From the Baltimore & Ohio, as per contract of Oct. 

17. 1877 $ 1,116,6339s 

From the New York Central, as per contract of same 

date 2,131.755 78 

From the Erie, as per contract of same date 2,181,755 78 

From the Pennsylvania R. R., as per contract of same 

date , 4,711,072 46 


$10,141,218 00 

These rebates enabled the Standard Oil Co. to undersell, drive out of 
business and ruin all their competitors. On the theory that the officers 
of railroad companies divide this swag with the recipient, is it not easy 
to explain why railroad officials get rich, in answer to Judge Agnew’s 
question in Note 20? 


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An iron crown: a tale of the great republic .. 
Denison, Thomas S. (Thomas Stewart), 1848-1911 
8209195 





